Topnotchers on the spot

Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña recently did something that only served to bring to the fore his self-centeredness. Why, for God's sake, did Osmeña have to turn an otherwise genuinely happy but routine courtesy call by Cebu's newest Bar topnotchers into a most awkward moment by publicly offering the young lawyers jobs at City Hall?

I do not question the sense of civic obligation nor love for Cebu of these new Bar topnotchers. But they are presently savoring a moment in their lives that, at least temporarily, shuts out all other worldly considerations. The fact that they even had the sense to pay a courtesy call on the mayor puts a finger on where they really stand as truly responsible and civic-minded citizens. No need to put that sense into a test.

But Osmeña did precisely that. Whether he did it on purpose or it simply did not occur to him, the fact remains that his job offer turned the courtesy call into something horrible. It put the visitors on the spot. If the visitors had wanted a job at City Hall, they would have done so at the proper time. The visit was not the time to do it.

When the topnotchers decided to pay a courtesy call on the mayor, it was meant to share their joy and their honor with him. It was the right thing to do. But Osmeña wanted the event to center on himself. Always imbued with a sense of superiority, he wanted to appear, even in face of such an overwhelming array of achievers, that the visitors came looking for jobs and that he had the power to give it to them.

I could be wrong. Maybe that was not what was in the mind of Osmeña. But that was precisely how it came across. I am pretty sure, topnotchers as they are, that the visitors must have stumbled for an appropriate answer to the job offer. I hope I am wrong, and please forgive me if I am, but I am convinced the visitors must have been driven to telling Osmeña untruths, or at least mouthing words they did not mean.

How could Osmeña not see the glaring fact that he was receiving Bar topnotchers and not job-hunters drifting from one rejection to another. And while it is an honor indeed to be offered a job by the mayor of the second most important city in the Philippines, the distinction of being a topnotcher ensures that they will not be looking for jobs – it is jobs that will be running after them, jobs far better than what Osmeña can offer.

I am not demeaning any job at City Hall. And I will not be so presumptuous as to say no topnotcher will ever settle for something less than what he deserves for his achievement. But I am just realistic and pragmatic enough to see that topping a licensure exam opens up a vast array of opportunities not normally available to all people and that for one to say yes to the very first opportunity is, if not foolhardy, is at least unwise.

If Osmeña truly wanted to offer the topnotchers a job at City Hall, he could have done it appropriately enough by formally writing them. The same with the topnotchers. If they had wanted a job at City Hall, they could have written the mayor. But a courtesy call is a courtesy call, not a business meeting or even a job interview. It is a time for niceties. And in the presence of the press, not a time to put anyone under duress.

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