President is entitled to private moments

REST TIME: The President is the top civil servant, presumably at work 24/7. But though he is the No. 1 public official in the land, President Noynoy Aquino like everybody else is entitled to some private moments.

For one, he has to rest and recharge. I do not want my President to run himself to the ground working endlessly. I want him refreshed and alert every time he is called upon to say something or make a decision.

It may be a bit off-tangent to say it, but even God had to rest at the end of the work week.

Actually, President Aquino — despite the slings and arrows flying during the supposed 100-day honeymoon — has been very patient with the needling by media.

While the press hounds the President non-stop in teams, it is unreasonable to expect him to be always there every time we want him. It is also normal that some of his activities are closed to media coverage.

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NO MODEL: One would think that the Office of the Solicitor General, being the law firm of the Republic of the Philippines, would be a stickler for due process.

Yet employees of the OSG affected by Executive Order No. 2 for the mass layoff of so-called “midnight appointees” are disappointed with how they were shabbily treated by newly-appointed Solicitor General Jose Anselmo Cadiz.

Last Aug. 6, or two days after EO-2 was announced by Malacañang and a day after Cadiz assumed his post at the OSG, he designated one of the Assistant Solicitors General to tell employees on the chopping board that that was their last working day.

Their termination was made without written notice, as Cadiz had rationalized that there was no need for such niceties because EO-2 was “self-explanatory” and “self-executory.”

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ORAL ORDER: The employees, majority of whom are lawyers, were devastated. Imagine going to work that morning only to find out that it was going to be your last day and you did not even get a written notice.

The affected employees thought that a review of their qualifications would still be conducted by Cadiz as per the statements issued by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa.

Communications Group Secretary Herminio Coloma and Chief Presidential Counsel Eduardo de Mesa also said that Cabinet officials would be ordered to evaluate those affected in their departments and submit their list to the Office of the President.

They said that those believed covered by EO-2 “will be informed accordingly that their appointments have been revoked, unless they have already in the meantime been replaced or they have voluntarily resigned.”

Cadiz’s delegated oral notification order affected even those who were not told on Aug. 6. Many of the victims were on leave and were unaware that they had no more paying jobs to return to.

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CONFUSION: While the purpose of EO-2 is laudable, its merits are being eroded by administrative confusion.

Coordination will help. Chief Presidential Counsel De Mesa had said that all “midnight appointees” will be reviewed one by one by heads of office to determine if indeed their appointments were made for political considerations.

Then last Aug. 12, presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda was quoted as saying that all “midnight appointees” must go since the Supreme Court did not issue a TRO (temporary restraining order) on EO-2.

A day later, De Mesa again told the media that 977 appointments were still being reviewed one by one so the requisite due process is observed.

It so happened that many of the 977 appointees are career officers who have served the government for most part of their careers and who have risen from the ranks.

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VESTED RIGHTS: It is basic that career officers have security of tenure. Article IX (B), Section 2(3) of the 1987 Constitution provides that “(n)o officer or employee of the civil service shall be removed or suspended except for cause provided by law.”

The common notion is that regardless of the nature of his appointment, a civil servant cannot be terminated from service without just cause and only after notice and hearing.

But what happened in the OSG, which is the defender of the State in upholding the rule of law, is ironic. Its employees were denied due process and shabbily treated by the new Solicitor General.

The counsel of Supreme Court spokesman Midas Marquez comes to mind: “(I)t might be prudent or judicious if we maintain the status quo in the meantime, while we await the comment of the Executive Secretary. What we are avoiding is telling these ‘midnight appointees’ to leave their posts, then make them come back. Of course, that is their (the Executive Department’s) discretion if they would like to accord courtesy or wait in the meantime.”

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LATIN MASS: This will be of interest to those who pine for those Masses in Latin. Next Sunday, Aug. 22, a Missa Cantata in Latin will be offered at the main altar of the National Shrine of St. Therese of the Child Jesus at Villamor Air Base (across NAIA-3), Pasay City.

Societas Liturgiæ Sacræ Sancti Gregorii, as a Traditional Latin Mass apostolate, will be consecrated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary. It was on the feast of the Immaculate Heart last year that the TLM Apostolate group assumed its name, with St. Gregory the Great as its patron.

Yesterday, the Christ the King Parish-Greenmeadows’ TLM apostolate celebrated its first anniversary with a Missa Cantata. The celebrant was Fr. John Anthony Napulis, FFI, rector of the Shrine of Mary Co-Redemptrix in Talimban, Cebu. The Sacred Liturgical Chants were sung by the John Van De Steen Choir (alumni of the Manila Cathedral Boys Choir of the ’50s).

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