AUTHORITY is a kind of power given to a person for the faithful performance of his/her duties and responsibilities. Authority therefore should be limited in the performance of this duty and must not extend beyond it to serve our own comforts.
There are privileges associated with the authority delegated or given to a person once he/she assumes an office, job title, or status. (We all have status by the way). Lawmakers, for example, are given the authority to manage the fund provided to them by the government. They can dictate which project they should support or what programs they should finance.
When they were chosen to be representatives of their district, they were recognized to have the capacity to make good representation. It is not surprising that people look up to them because of their skills, talents, or intellectual capacity to lead and represent their people in the district or represent a party. This admiration comes from their distinct abilities and not mainly on the office they hold. The same is true to other people who hold offices either elected, or delegated. Promotion is one form of delegation.
The actuation of Representative John Bertiz (ACTS-OFW party-list) was a clear misuse and abuse of the authority given to him as a lawmaker. He tried to use the privileges presumed to be part of his authority as a lawmaker to get exempted to the security protocol in the airport. His privileges being a congressman have nothing to do with his exemption to the rules applied and followed by all citizens in the terminal.
Authority is contextual. This authority only works and recognized if it is performed in the proper context or setting.
A father has authority over his family at home. He together with his wife are expected to maintain a healthy family relationship. Disciplining the children and raising them well are part of this authority. Yet the same father cannot practice this paternal authority in the office because his authority now changed. His authority has shifted in the performance of his work in the office. This authority gives him the privilege to use the office facilities such as usage of computers and other office machines but cannot exercise his authority as father since he is no longer confine in the setting of family. He may provide fatherly assistance or advice to co-workers but he must do this in his capacity or authority as an officemate.
A head of the school is another person with great authority, and of course, responsibility. He/ she, literally, runs the school. He/she was given this authority after proving himself/herself to be worthy of the position through his/her exemplary performance supported by documents he/she presented during the ranking or promotion process.
If a school head bans the participation of players in sports activities only because he/she can (authority) and not because it is necessary, it is a direct abuse of authority. Police officers and other uniformed personnel are the faces of authority. They first register to our mind when we hear the word authority.
As uniformed personnel, they have the authority to enforce the law, but primarily, to keep the peace. There is abuse of authority when school heads, uniformed personnel, and all of us who have certain types of authority, use this power for selfish consideration. If the authority is used not in the performance of our duty, since first and foremost, the authority is given for us to function well in this duties, we misuse and abuse it and therefore we commit something erroneous.
The problem with people having a great deal of authority such as those who are holding high offices is they want this authority and privileges associated with it to be permanently enjoined with them. They want the rest of us to recognize it. So the congressman/woman wants to be recognized as a lawmaker wherever he is. He/she wants the same privileges he/she enjoys in Congress.
A company manager thinks he is still the manager wherever he is so he/she wants the same attention and special treatment. The security staff in the airport does not know who Congressman Bertiz was and he had no need to know him. The problem was that Congressman Bertiz expected him to recognize him being a lawmaker and that the former must give him respect by exempting him in the security protocol. The thing is at that time, the security staff was merely exercising his own authority over the Bertiz which was only proper because he was performing his duty by securing the area.
Authority is a temporary. This is the truth that both those wanting to hold authority and those addicted to it must understand. If a person thinks his/her authority is a forever thing, letting go is very difficult. Having authority is a privilege and a recognition.
People are not given authority for nothing. It means they have a qualification that others may not have that’s why they were given the authority. Yet authority should not be abused or misused. It should be used to perform duties and responsibilities well. If people who hold authority do not understand the limit of authority, more abuses will certainly take place.
Worst, if we do not know how to let go of authority, it will surely consume us. Remember Spider Man 3?