EDITORIAL - Malacañang did not look where it leapt

When Malacañang issued the order suspending an Ombudsman deputy, it is difficult to imagine it did not check with its law first. Surely it must have, otherwise it would not have had the balls to do so. But there is a reason why balls are situated on one end and brains on the other. They are not the same. It is one thing to be brave and another to be wise.

And it was not wise for Malacañang to suspend an Ombudsman deputy, even granting that it had checked with its law first and determined it to be on its side. Determination of the law is not the province of Malacañang. Besides, the last available determination of the law on the matter of disciplining an Ombudsman deputy, as appropriately made by the Supreme Court, is not on Malacañang’s side.

All the marbles Malacañang has is bunched together on the conjecture that if the matter goes up to the Supreme Court again for another determination, this time it will win. No leap of faith can be more ambitious than that. But even if Malacañang is right in its hunch and eventually gets sustained by a Supreme Court trying to find some balance amid a leadership crisis, it will have first suffered a slap in the face.

And that slap came from no less than the Ombudsman herself, who said she will not enforce the Malacañang order suspending her deputy, citing constitutional independence. Either Malacañang missed the Ombudsman completely or it grossly miscalculated her response. But there it is. Malacañang is stymied. Surely it is not part of its intentions to kick in the door and arrest her.

It is no longer necessary to delve into why the Ombudsman did what she did. The circumstances of her office and that of Malacañang leave her with no choice but refuse to cooperate. That much is pretty clear. Which is a pity since, in the eyes of Malacañang, it doesn’t seem as pretty clear at all. Otherwise it would not have done what it did.

The problem with Malacañang, at least on this issue, is that it painted itself into a corner from where extricating itself would be messy. Why oh why did Malacañang allow itself to get into a situation where the outcome is non-negotiable. Even if the Ombudsman wanted to cooperate, it could not. The Ombudsman had no choice but to refuse. So what now, Malacañang?