EDITORIAL — Public officials should not succumb to criticism

Reports have it that Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has now made herself less accessible to the media because of some influential media men who seem to always find "fault in every thing she does, in everything she says."

Without naming names, her brother and Capitol consultant Pablo John Garcia said it's disappointing to note that editors, columnists and commentators would be sanctimonious in what they write and say against the governor. He assures, however, that everything works as usual at the governor's office and reporters can still get information on anything relevant to the Capitol.

The good governor has nothing to be onion-skinned about the harsh criticism she has been getting from the media of late. She has already been doing a fine job her constituents never expected from such a neophyte public servant. If there is anything she is afraid of, it is the failure to fulfill the promises she made to the people who catapulted her to the highest post in the province.

It cannot be denied that every public official, whether corrupt or not, is subject to media scrutiny under the present form of government we embrace called democracy. Public officials have no right being called public servants when they succumb to criticisms, whether constructive or not, from the media in a free society such as ours.

Yes some media men work beyond the boundary of their daily routine, preferring instead to dive below the belt of their profession. But that can't deter any determined and hard working public servant from pursuing his prime mission of delivering the goods to the people.

The lady governor should take a cue from former US president Bill Clinton who never even thought of packing up when the American media were feasting on his affair with White House intern Monica Lewinsky. Clinton nearly had his regime cut short through the impeachment trial initiated at the US Senate over his extra-marital affair.

But majority of the US senators saved his head, contending that he has done enough to turn around the sluggish American economy than bringing disgrace to the Oval Office in the wake of the Lewinsky scandal. So he left White House with his head high.