Bigatin Friends... The VIP mentality

"Throwing one’s weight around to circumvent rules is not excusable no matter how pressed for time one is....Being connected with him, no matter in what menial or inconsequential way, they too feel are elevated and therefore superior enough to break rules..."

Written by : MA. ISABEL ONGPIN

For some the Llamas’ aides joyride with arms they had no permit to carry is a tempest in a teapot. For most, it is a symbol of execrable public behavior by what are in effect public servants via their public official employers and a bad mark on the administration they serve. In truth, there is much of ordinary Filipino cultural behavior involved.

It happens time and again that bodyguards, errand people, aides and such of public officials assume superior airs, act with impunity and have no inhibitions about breaking the law or assuming advantages beyond those of ordinary citizens. In time and more often than not, their actions are soon so repellent that they bring on to their bosses condemnation and odium.

It is actually common behavior. They feel they have become privileged and superior because they work for someone they think has elevated them to that level by his government position. Being connected with him, no matter in what menial or inconsequential way, they too feel are elevated and therefore superior enough to break rules. Thus, these who are effectively underlings, strut about taking on the airs of a special class of people who do not have to follow the rules of ordinary citizens. And in an ironic twist, some of them actually impose the same behavior on their unthinking and insensitive bosses by treating them as gods, parting the rules, the people, the furniture, etc. from their path.

The public servants involved take it as a matter of course, probably because bearing the burden of office, they think they deserve it. Or, in the same mode of being burdened, are distracted enough to be out of focus or unaware that their subalterns are causing them to break rules of good or dignified and democratic behavior.

Here are some examples: At the airport a newly-elected senator was due to arrive. Meanwhile an earlier flight’s passengers were exiting the airport terminal waiting for their cars or taxis, but found the whole curb from beginning to end barred from access to their cars or taxis by the seven vehicles of the senator ranging from luxury cars to trucks and vans.

The senator was nowhere near the exit, his plane had probably not even landed but his whole retinue of cars and aides had taken over public space causing disorder and discomfort to the rest. It seemed to them it was their right to be there took precedence over everyone else’s rights.

The ensuing mayhem meant passengers had to haul their luggage beyond the curb, between the vehicles parked, and into the other half of the street. Meanwhile, the drivers, aides, go-fers were out of their vehicles idling, smoking and shooting the breeze, ignoring the security guard’s attempts to make them move on. So much so that he just gave up and resorted to carrying suitcases to help women who could not manage moving their bags beyond the curb, between the vehicles and across half of the street.

At an electoral exercise day at a crowded barangay polling place, a cabinet secretary arrived while there was a line of citizens waiting their turn. His aides quickly parted a way for him to reach the end, fill in his ballot and leave for his office. Next day there was a Letter to the Editor excoriating the undue advantage, reviling the cabinet secretary. I read it and went into shock, it was my own husband during his two-minute government service who was named. I went into a rage and expressed my complete support for the aggrieved party and read him the riot act about public behavior as a public official. Of course, he had an appointment, was in a hurry and hardly noticed what exactly his aides had done. He had other matters on his mind. Not an excuse, I said. As for the aides, I called them together and told them off in no uncertain terms about what not to do next time. They had come down from the previous authoritarian regime and had taken in its bad habits. Next scene they were in a huddle to ponder and figure out what made me so angry and how to do better next time according to what they thought were my rules. They were just the right rules.

What are the lessons to be learned here by public officials in cases like the above which will rightly get them the blame and the administrations they serve unnecessarily compromised? Choose the right people to hire as a public official. Give them a seminar on the behavior of the servant official rather than the superior official vis-à-vis the general public. It should be made very clear to them what they should do and what they cannot do. Certainly using the low-numbered car when the boss is away is an obvious no-no to most of us, but it has to be spelled out anyway before it happens. Throwing one’s weight around to circumvent rules is not excusable no matter how pressed for time one is. Perhaps a proper and humble by-your-leave to the people affected should be the norm in cases like this. If they deny the permission, then one has to abide by their refusal.

The given is that a public official and his or her retinue think they have carte blanche about how to behave in public. This is usually taken to mean acting like rulers of old or celebrities of the present. Maybe some do not quite think that way, but they let their minions behave that way using their position as an excuse. Aides and other employees have to be carefully selected for discretion democratic behavior and humility. There is no other way. Just as taking advantage of public office to enrich oneself or gain unwarranted privileges, using the office an excuse to act superior or privileged is not allowed. Breaking rules of polite and courteous behavior should never be tolerated.

And the burden is on the public officials who are the superiors of these employees. When bad behavior happens, throw the book at these abusers in some form or another. That and his own good behavior is every public official’s responsibility.