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Thursday, May 25, 2006
Editorials: Kinks in the system
The failure of the Philippine National Police (PNP) hierarchy to implement reassignment plans for its personnel because of blocks set up by local government officials only shows that the principle of checks and balance is not always working.
This provision on the PNP law is supposed to insulate assignments from tyranny: the police hierarchy lists the names of qualified nominees to a particular post, the local chief executive picks one and all’s well that ends well.
Supposedly.
But in the case of the post of chief of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), Mayor Tomas Osmeña has so tied up the hands of the PNP hierarchy that for months now the one holding the position is doing so only in an acting capacity.
Which does not look good for one of the premier cities of the country.
The trick
Apparently, the system is susceptible to politician’s power plays, which can be both economic and political.
Operation of the CCPO, for example, is too dependent on financial aid from the Cebu City Government---vehicles, fuel, other operational expense, even allowances---that the Police Regional Office 7 could no longer dare act independently from City Hall.
Then there is that peculiar setup where the political influence of the mayor and City Hall officials goes all the way to President Arroyo, making it easy for them to block whatever appointments or decisions Camp Crame makes.
The result is that Cebu City officials has largely gotten what it wanted, allowing it to virtually control the CCPO like it is another City Hall department.
Not only City Hall
But it is not only in Cebu City that the breakup in the system is visible.
The same situation, though with a few differences, is prevailing, say, at the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) whose board of directors is insisting on appointing people that lacks qualification to the post of airport general manager.
Thus, like in the CCPO, the airport organization is moving onward with uncertain steps given the shaky status of a key official there.
Corrective measures
One can argue, of course, that these situations are mere aberrations and that the system is largely working in the government bureaucracy.
But the situation at the CCPO and MCIAA shows kinks in the setup that needs to be corrected to prevent further damage.
For Bisaya stories from Cebu. Click here. (May 25, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board.Click here. |
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