Gatekeepers vs government junketeers

The twin fates that befell the two ranking government executives fired for too much travelling abroad have yet to settle the nerves of similarly situated appointees of President Rodrigo Duterte.

The first to be removed from office for excessive foreign trips was even a Cabinet-ranked official. Fired last month from his post as chairman of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) was former Kabataan party-list representative Terry Ridon. He got the boot from President Duterte for having travelled abroad for seven times at government expense in a span of one year. Virtually, Ridon kept his peace and did not refute the President’s basis for his dismissal.

But the fired Cabinet member could not have gone abroad so many times on official mission without first securing travel authority from the Office of the President.

But to bolster the cause of dismissal of the ex-PCUP chief, the President expressed publicly his extreme displeasure on the lack of performance of Ridon’s leadership in running a collegial body. Thus, the rest of the PCUP commissioners, all Duterte appointees, were all fired along with Ridon.

Then came a complaint filed by employees of the Maritime Industry Authority (MARINA) against their alleged “missing” administrator Marcial Amaro III. They took to task Amaro over his allegedly having embarked on 18 foreign trips. Acting on the employees’ union formal complaint submitted last month to Malacanang, President Duterte sacked Amaro but only after delaying its official announcement until New Year holidays were over.

After checking from the record, the Palace found out Amaro had actually logged not just 18 but 21 total official trips, of which six trips were sponsored by host countries while 15 of his foreign travels were paid for by the Philippine government.

Unlike Ridon, Amaro went on press interviews to argue his case. He cited all his trips were signed by his immediate boss, Department of Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade and approved also by Malacanang.

Also a Duterte appointee, Amaro had no choice but to bow to his summary dismissal even as he claimed having supposedly explained well himself with the complaining MARINA employees’ union. Amaro justified his frequent travels abroad as necessary part of his mandate as the head of MARINA which he cited is a “specialized organization of the government that deals with international organizations.”

Under the MARINA charter, Amaro warned, whoever succeeds him into office faces the same dilemma because he or she must undertake numerous trips abroad in compliance with the mandates of the office.

Methinks it should not be a problem for the next MARINA administrator. The trouble with Amaro’s arguments was they were self-serving. Has Amaro heard about delegation or designation of representative?

Last week, a House ally of President Duterte claimed another high-ranking government executive has also been frequently flying in and out of the Philippines even without travel authority from Malacanang. Rep. Karlo Nograles specifically accused Commission on Higher Education (CHED) chairman Patricia Licuanan of allegedly committing such wanton violations. As of this writing, Licuanan vehemently denied the accusations and countered that Nograles was spreading “fake news” against her supposed illegal foreign trips charged to taxpayers’ money.

Let us wait how Licuanan’s case plays out as she is not exactly in good graces with President Duterte who questioned earlier her continued tenure as CHED chairman as tenuous to say the least. Licuanan is an appointee of the former president.

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) took notice last week of the President’s dismissal of the two top government executives for their excessive foreign travels. The CSC noted with deep concern how could these two government executives were able to travel abroad frequently. And allegedly, they were sanctioned because they did so without proper travel authority required from all government officials and employees whenever they embark on foreign trips on official basis.

The CSC raised this issue in particular against the Bureau of Immigration (BI) as the final gatekeeper over all government workers who go out of the country on official business or official mission abroad.

Apparently alerted by the CSC notice, the BI airport authorities are now on guard over these traveling government functionaries. When we left last Sunday for a brief weekend trip with my family, I was pleasantly surprised to be asked at the immigration counter if I am a government employee or not.

But just simply asking such question seems to be a crude way to check against government functionaries bitten by travel bug. There must be some kind of a more effective check and monitoring method for it.

Obviously, President Duterte’s decision to restore the use of funds to pay for the overtime differentials of BI officers assigned at the international airports worked its wonders. This was vetoed in the 2017 budget law upon the recommendation last year of Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno who cited this extra pay provision to BI personnel at the airports had no basis in law.

But under the 2018 budget that President Duterte signed into law last month, the use of funds earned from other sources of income earned by the agency was finally restored to the BI. This apparently did the magic for the new-found vigilance and renewed dedication of BI personnel at the airports.

Just because their previous extra pay privileges were withheld, the CSC thus rightly pointed to the obvious lapses of the BI in doing this duty as the ultimate gatekeepers against junketeers in government. With better pay to do their job, the BI should live up to their border patrol security duties against illegal entries and also as the gatekeepers versus illicit exits out of the country.