I Hate Know-it-alls That Don’t Know-it-at-all. (on the Manila Hostage Crisis of 2010)

The Philippines is a democracy patterned after the United States. It has three branches of government the Executive, the Legislative and the Judiciary. The Legislative branch makes the laws, the Executive branch approves the law, the Judiciary branch enforces the law.

That is basic civics. This is an oft forgotten fact when one criticizes any president in office. As much as the president wants to do things, he cannot make laws except those he declares by Executive orders and those orders do not rival powers of the legislative body. Yes he has powers to veto any law, and make recommendations, but he cannot write the laws.

In running the day today functions of positions in government like those handled by his cabinet, he does not inspect their work day by day like a principal checks lesson plans. He assigned these secretaries to work with a level of autonomy so that he can focus on the most pressing matters that require him to preside over (thus the word President). You ask who holds the officials accountable?  The ombudsman.

What people ought to realize is that the President is not the end all and be all of the country. When bridges collapse who works on it? Public works, not the president. When an epidemic breaks out who do you gonna call? The Germ Busters at the Department of Health. Not the President. Unjust labor practices? Department of Labor. Not the President. Kidnapped daughter of a rich politician? Call the police (why is there any other recourse?) and not the President.

How many people did you vote into office this year? I’m sure there were more names after Benigno Aquino III.

Three words people: Chain of command. In any organization and in government, the local official closest to the scene handles it first. It escalates as it leaves his jurisdiction and goes to higher authorities in which the President is the last person to pass the buck to.

With regards to the hostage taking of the 8 Chinese tourists in Manila, that operational mess was not the president’s fault, not the president’s fault, not the president’s fault. Even if the president was (dare I say it?) Gloria, it still wouldn’t be her fault. The president, is not a qualified police negotiator or SWAT operative. At most he can give the order to fire or ceasefire but does he have the training to determine that?

What can the president do then? What he has already done. Play the diplomat and apologize to the people of Hong Kong. Order inquiries and investigations.  Do the cliché thing and form a task force to investigate. But it will not be the president’s job to scour the crime scene, dust for prints, make a psychological profile of the deceased. If he did that he would be a cop not the president. What else do people want from him when they tell him to do his job?

I’m not being political, I didn’t even vote for the guy. But just because CNN cameras and Chinese tourists in the bus at Quirino Grandstand made the incident “International” it didn’t require the UN security council to resolve the incident. Granted, the cops were lousy at their jobs, but nonetheless it was their job not the president’s. They messed up negotiations and the neutralization of the perp. But it was THEIR job that they messed up not the president’s. If you want to point fingers point to the cops. The president was nowhere near the crime scene and it wasn’t his job to be there.