EDITORIAL - Intemperate

The Vietnamese ambassador dismissed it as a minor flap, but his compatriots online were less forgiving of Maria Carmen Mislang. The self-styled connoisseur of wine and men had tweeted disparaging remarks about the looks of Vietnamese males and the quality of wine offered at a dinner in Hanoi hosted by the Vietnamese government for the Philippine delegation.

If a person is tech-savvy enough to tweet, she should be savvy enough to remember that every message posted on social media can be read by the whole world, including Vietnamese citizens and nosy journalists. And if a person is capable enough to be a speechwriter of the President of the Philippines, warranting her inclusion in a lean presidential delegation in his first state visit — meaning the host country shoulders the expenses — she should be capable of mature, responsible behavior in the President’s company, with the prudence to keep her intemperate remarks private.

Mislang, who carries the rank of a Cabinet assistant secretary in the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning Office, has been reprimanded and has apologized to the President, according to reports. Palace officials expressed hope that the case would not be blown out of proportion. But there is no controlling the slew of mostly negative comments posted online, with Mislang’s boss President Aquino included in the criticism.

Palace officials have made it clear that Mislang’s job is safe, explaining that one must make room for intemperance among the relatively young. One wonders at what age public officials are supposed to grow up, as far as Malacañang is concerned. Critics have derided some of the missteps in this four-month-old administration as Amateur Hour. Mislang’s case is Immature Hour.

The public can only hope that the government has learned some lessons from this incident. There can’t be room for silliness in the country’s seat of power, especially when the silliness is broadcast to the world.