EDITORIAL - Irrevocable

As of yesterday, it looked like the resignation tendered by Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong as contact tracing czar of the national government remained irrevocable, as he had described it.

Magalong stepped down after receiving flak for attending a birthday party in Baguio where several of those present were seen on video violating city ordinances on COVID health protocols. Celebrant Tim Yap, entertainment personality KC Concepcion, Magalong’s wife Arlene and about 30 others at the party have been fined P1,500 each for failure to observe physical distancing and wear face masks. The venue of the party, The Manor at Camp John Hay, was also fined P17,000.

In late October last year, with the city under the most lenient modified general community quarantine, Baguio started accepting tourists from the rest of Luzon. Both Magalong and Yap said the gathering was intended to promote the tourism bubble in the country’s summer capital.

Still, Magalong acknowledged his lapse amid the criticisms: “Mukhang may kakulangan ako so it’s all about accountability.” He then resigned as contact tracing czar, and insisted that his move was irrevocable. “One of the highlights of public service is good governance,” he said. “We should look at a ranking official as the lead implementer of what’s right.”

His move is remarkable especially in the light of similar violations of COVID health protocols by other key public officials since the start of the pandemic, and the response of those who should be holding them accountable. The public officials did not get even a slap on the wrist, and one was even promoted to the top post in the Philippine National Police.

Lesser individuals, meanwhile, have been rounded up and slapped with criminal charges for staging mass protest actions. A man was tossed into jail just for crossing over to a neighboring city to buy fish that he could sell for the day. In Makati, a foreigner was tackled by a cop in his private driveway because his househelper had not worn a mask while watering their garden patch along the subdivision street. An unarmed retired soldier was fatally shot in the back at a police checkpoint. In Ilocos, two teenage girls were apprehended by cops for violating curfew, and then sexually molested and raped. After the girls filed a complaint, one of them was shot dead by the rapists.

Magalong’s move is also remarkable because it is so rare in this country, where erring officials have to be dragged screaming and kicking away from their posts, and would rather commit suicide or homicide rather than resign. People can only hope that Magalong’s irrevocable resignation will set a precedent for delicadeza in public service.