The sudden resignation of the director of the National Bureau of Investigation demonstrates yet again President Aquino’s ineptitude in managing people. That the Palace tried to put a put a positive spin on the fiasco afterward merely reinforced the perception of incompetence. With neither warning nor explanation, NBI chief Nonnatus Rojas abruptly quit last week, but his subsequent statements—as reported by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima—left little doubt that he did not appreciate the President’s description of the NBI as the home of “rats” and “less trustworthy” officials. Those cutting remarks were made after the President accepted the surrender of the alleged mastermind behind the P10-billion pork barrel scam, Janet Napoles. The NBI, the lead agency investigating the pork barrel mess, was left in the dark while the President met with Napoles at the Palace, then went to police headquarters to make sure that her detention cell was secure. The President’s statements were reinforced by De Lima herself, who insinuated that officials at the bureau had tipped Napoles off about her impending arrest, enabling her to go into hiding for two weeks before she surrendered. Because of this, she demanded that the deputy directors all resign—failing to see that it would be the bureau’s chief that would lead the way. All these public pronouncements from the Palace demoralized NBI officials and employees, who were left stunned in the wake of Rojas’ departure. The broad accusations, based on rumors and innuendo, smeared everyone, guilty and innocent alike, but that didn’t seem to matter. The faultless could hardly draw any consolation from the President’s spokesman, who none-too-helpfully observed: “Any accusation of irregularity can always be assuaged with the balm of clean conscience.” In the fallout of Rojas’ resignation, De Lima said she tried thrice to convince the NBI chief to stay, and recommended to the President that he reject his irrevocable resignation. She also revealed that the President even talked to Rojas, who remained steadfast in his decision to go. In doing so, Rojas exhibited a rare quality among members of the Aquino administration—a sense of honor and propriety. The Palace, on the other hand, looked even more foolish when it praised Rojas and attributed his departure to “health issues,” a reason that strangely enough never found its way into his letter of resignation. The situation is not new. The President lost an experienced and principled Cabinet member in 2011 in a similar manner, when he refused to support his decision to ease out a presidential appointee in his own department. The ultimate result of the Mr. Aquino’s inability to keep good men is that he will leave this government in the hands of the incompetent and the unprincipled. Truly in this administration as in physics, water seeks its own level.
Posted on: Mon, 09 Sep 2013 03:42:08 +0000
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