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Wednesday, September 17, 2003
DOJ plans nightspot ban for gov't officials
MANILA -- Think of it as the vow of simple living.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) is planning to expand a ban, now enforced among police operatives, so that all government officials, particularly Cabinet secretaries, will stay away from bars, karaoke joints and other nightspots.
"My proposal is we should discourage unnecessary spending by a public official," said Justice Secretary Simeon Datumanong in an ABS-CBN Manila interview Tuesday night.
Datumanong added that frequent nights out by public officials and employees will only provoke speculations that corruption has allowed these public servants to live beyond their means.
"If you're a public official, whether or not you can afford it, you are supposed to lead a modest life," Chairman Dario Rama of the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission also told ABS-CBN Manila.
Some members of Congress are not too happy about the justice department's plan, though.
"If you go home early or you go to a bar, that is your own business," said Rep. Prospero Pichay (Surigao del Sur), chairman of the House committee on national defense.
Pichay said preventing government officials from going to bars is the "highest form of hypocrisy" and violates the right to privacy.
"Moralizing is very subjective. We should not mix it with governance," he added.
Modest lives
Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) Director Cecil Ezra Sandalo told reporters Tuesday that he agrees with President Arroyo's order for police personnel to steer clear of nightspots.
"While they are entitled to spend their money for their enjoyment, why don't they just use it productively and spend it with their families?" Sandalo said.
On Monday, President Arroyo asked the police to avoid nightspots, saying they should be "models for the community," after several policemen were among those robbed in a Quezon City bar last week.
Following Arroyo's directive, PNP Chief Hermogenes Ebdane led a raid on Classmate KTV bar in Quezon City before dawn Tuesday to find out if some in the force frequent the place.
Ebdane was accompanied by Chief Supt. Reynaldo Velasco, director of the National Capital Region Police Office, in leading a team from Camp Crame, "if only to prove a point."
"We want to make sure whether or not there are police in nightclubs," Ebdane stressed.
No policeman was caught unwinding at the Classmates bar, though police did not enter rooms which had signs that read "classes going on" at their doors.
Imported liquor
The team later proceeded to nearby Mystique KTV, also a popular hangout for off-duty police officers.
The team did not chance on policemen carousing with the club's lady receptionists but noticed bottles of imported liquor displayed with the names and supposed ranks of the owners, among them Sergeant Divina, Sergeant Ceballes, Captain Taniel, Captain Reyes and Colonel Vera.
Ebdane said he would order an investigation to determine if policemen in the active duty roster owned those bottles.
Section 4 of the Code of Conduct for Public Officials (Republic Act 6713) requires public officials, employees and their families "to lead modest lives appropriate to their positions and income."
They are warned against indulging "in extravagant or ostentatious displays of wealth."
The same provision has been cited in defense of President Arroyo's "lifestyle checks."
Asked about the justice department's plan to expand coverage of the ban, Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama suggested that the agency define which bars government officials and employees should not be seen in.
'Be decent'
"When we have visitors, where should we treat them? There are karaoke bars that are immoral because they offer women, but there are also karaoke bars that are very decent, that are merely for singing and some drinks. The justice department should clearly define where the ban applies," Rama said in a phone interview Tuesday night.
For his part, Cebu City Prosecutor Jose Pedrosa said he will issue a memorandum to his subordinates as soon as he receives the order from the Department of Justice.
"If that is beneficial to many, that is okay and I don't have objections to that," he said.
As far as police operatives are concerned, only those conducting surveillance or intelligence-gathering work are allowed to enter nightspots.
But "even with the ban, who can keep government employees from going into these bars wearing plain clothes?" Rama pointed out.
Still, he said, public servants should maintain "a certain level of decency" and sound judgment whenever they go to bars---to avoid falling short of the bar of public opinion. AIV/With Miko Santos |
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