EDITORIAL — Oliva should go

Dr. Leonilo Oliva must have forgotten that there are no permanent assignments in government when he refused to vacate his post as city schools superintendent despite an order from his superiors, Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz and regional director Carolino Mordeno, for him to relinquish the Cebu City post to Lorna Rances. His fight for the post was so intense that he even took the matter to court saying the education secretary has no authority to transfer him, being only a presidential appointee.

It cannot be denied that Oliva's transfer must have been a result of Mayor Tomas Osmeña's ire when the official allegedly defied the mayor's orders not to let high school students attend seminars during school hours as this might affect their academic performance. The mayor found out about Oliva's alleged defiance when 19 students from the Abellana National High School complained they were harassed by a priest during confession when they had a Life in the Spirit Seminar in school.

Secretary Lapuz did not state the reason for his order to transfer Oliva from Cebu City to Lapu-Lapu City. But, because Osmeña explicitly said that he will work for Oliva's transfer, we can conclude that the transfer stemmed from Osmeña's complaint of Oliva's defiance of his orders. However, Oliva should not use this as a reason to cling to his post in Cebu City and defy the orders of his superiors.

He should know that in government, there are no permanent positions and no one can hold a post forever. Whether the education secretary heeded Mayor Osmeña's request for Oliva's transfer or not, there will come a time that Oliva will really be transferred to some other DepEd division and the order for this eventual transfer will always come from the education secretary and not from somebody else.

This is the reality in government that Oliva should learn to live with. He should realize that it is time for him to go and follow the orders of his superiors.