Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Editorial: A tricky course
FOR allegedly setting a bad example, embattled Governor Eddie T. Panlilio has terminated the services of 64 members of the Provincial Government's quarry team known as Biyaya a Luluguran at Sisikapan or Balas for short.
And for feeling they were sandbagged, the disgruntled 64 Balas boys have decided to mount a protest in front of the provincial Capitol, asking for no less than the head of the governor's most trusted person, Provincial Administrator Vivian Dabu.
The governor himself has vaguely indicated that the Balas might have sandbagged him as well, attributing their termination to their second protest. The group had staged the same public action over issues of demotions and other internal problems.
Apparently, the issues had been settled until this new turn of event.
In ensuring exchanges of charges and countercharges, it is not clear who really did what to whom. What is evident is that in both the termination process and the protest rally, the controversial provincial administrator figured prominently. That explains the Balas boys' unequivocal demand for her resignation.
Balas is a creation of the new priest-governor, presumably the brainchild of his eclectic team of advocates and reformists that included Dabu. The dreamy team has since been decimated by dissatisfaction and internal wrangling as one aide after another started leaving the governor's camp. Dabu appears to be the only original governor's trusted people who have remained on his side. She has been unfazed by relentless calls for her resignation coming from previous supporters, allies and staff members
The governor's decision to terminate the Balas workers only further strengthens the general view that she can keep her job, and everybody else be damned. This is not to say that her stubbornness to hang on to her post is bereft of merit. But it certainly has his seemingly unquestionable and immutable blessing, no matter what.
He may not realize it, but the governor may be on a slippery slope as more and more of his people desert him. It weakens his constituency, for one, and increasingly casts doubts on his leadership and credibility. Over time, the impact on his ability to govern, already hamstrung by his interminable differences with the provincial board, could be horrendous.
At this point, to say that the Panlilio administration is on a self-destructive mode may not be incorrect and superfluous anymore. If he continues to follow this tricky path, the historic priest-governor may inevitably find himself in a no-win situation that his growing legion of critics and detractors wish him to be in. At that point, the options left to him may not be the best for himself, or worse, for the province.
