EDITORIAL - What is ok for the goose is bad for the gander?

First, President Arroyo was at the graduation rites at the Philippine Military Academy. Then, a few days later, she was again at the graduation rites at the Philippine National Police Academy.

To be sure, there is no incongruity in her presence on both occasions. The president, as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, is traditionally required to be at the PMA rites. And, as president, she also nominally heads civilian peace-keeping forces, hence her being at the PNPA.

However, there is incongruity between her presence and statements she uttered pertaining to how politicians like her should relate to men in uniform, which now include fresh graduates from both the PMA and PNPA.

Arroyo, under persistent coup threats from rebellious soldiers, has been aggressively pushing the idea that the armed services should be insulated from politics and politicians, a call dutifully echoed by her top military officers.

There is nothing wrong with the notion. Indeed, that is how things ought to be. Soldiers, and policemen for that matter, should be apolitical. They should stay out of politics. Politics can only pollute and then inflame even the most disciplined of minds if given the chance.

But is Arroyo sincere in that call, or is she only making sure that the presidency is safe because she happens to be the president. This doubt crops up because Arroyo herself did not make things very clear.

Here is how she muddled the message she had wanted to convey. If Arroyo really wanted to come on sincerely with her call, she should have made her utterances outside of the graduation rites of both institutions.

She cannot use the alibi that she wanted to convey her message directly to her intended audience because, for God's sake, she is the president. Even her hiccup is heard the length and breadth of this country.

But by telling the PMA and PNPA graduates directly to their faces that they should be insulated from politics because politics is bad for them, wasn't she in fact contaminating them directly in the process? Or does she think she is a goose different from the gander?