Entitlements

Aniceto Bertiz III must be suffering from a terrible case of dysmenorrhea. The ACTS-OFW party-list congressman reportedly landed in the hospital last Wednesday. His colleagues in the House of Representatives, a.k.a. HOR, said Bertiz might have suffered from hypertension – no doubt an affliction arising from his foot-in-mouth disease complicated by andropause.

Bertiz is expected to be out of the hospital by the time his HOR colleagues begin an ethics probe into his recent behavior at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 2. His colleagues said he himself had asked for the probe, to defend his actions at the NAIA. But an ethics complaint was also filed against him yesterday by an overseas Filipino worker who said she was a victim of human trafficking by a recruitment firm owned by the family of Bertiz.

As anyone who has seen that viral video knows, Bertiz took offense at being required to take off his shoes for the routine post-immigration security check at the airport. He then shoved an ID card – his NAIA privilege pass, it turned out – at the face of the security screener, grabbed the guy’s ID card and took a photo of it.

As confirmed by the parties involved, Bertiz then called Manila International Airport Authority general manager Ed Monreal to complain about the security screener who dared ignore the VIP pass. And Monreal apologized to the congressman. How many public officials are like Monreal, who are easily cowed by VIPs?

Following the opprobrium he reaped not just on social media but also from his HOR colleagues and, horrors, from Malacañang officials, Bertiz issued a public apology, returned his NAIA pass, and made an attempt at levity – by blaming his rude behavior on his menstrual period.

Naturally, women weren’t amused. Really, human foot-in-mouth can be just as bad as animal hoof-and-mouth disease.

The only saving grace in this sorry episode is that even his congressional colleagues and ranking government officials were appalled, and openly rebuked Bertiz.

Yet his behavior – of pushing his weight around and telling the kapuspalad or less privileged, “hindi mo ba kilala kung sino ako (don’t you know who I am)?” – was just a crass example of the sense of entitlement that is widespread among those who hold power and wealth in this country. There are exceptions, of course, but this list is disappointingly short.

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It’s the wang-wang mentality. Noynoy Aquino, leading by example during his presidency, had some success in curbing it. People scoff at this achievement of his administration. But in our culture with yawning income gaps and social inequities, the wang-wang ban is an unprecedented feat that is most welcome to ordinary people.

Today, the ban is still largely observed in Metro Manila, thanks to the fear of being caught on CCTV or smartphones and being ostracized for wanting VIP treatment. But some VIPs now have motorcycle cops – using blinkers and sirens, of course – to part traffic for their vehicles, often heavily tinted and with no license plates. Just yesterday afternoon I passed such a convoy of four black vans with two police motorcycle escorts, their sirens blaring, driving southbound along the Roxas Boulevard service road.

Those motorcycle cops are deployed at taxpayers’ expense, and they’re supposed to be patrolling the streets, not working as hawi boys for VIPs. Only the president and those in the constitutional line of succession should be entitled to police motorcycle escorts.

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Several South Koreans have told me that in their country, the higher one’s social status, the greater the public expectations for exemplary behavior. This kind of attitude has surely contributed to South Korea’s rapid development in the 65 years since the end of the Korean War, giving the country much to celebrate on its National Day last Oct. 4.

The attitude is so deeply ingrained throughout all social strata. This probably accounts for the quick and heartfelt public contrition that we see when prominent South Koreans are indicted for wrongdoing. The sense of shame is so strong that one of their former presidents went on a mountain hike and jumped off a cliff when his wife was implicated in corruption.

In our country, a crooked VIP would push his wife off the cliff, deny knowledge of the corruption, run again for public office (he might win) and get a new wife.

Still, the public outcry over the tantrum of Bertiz is raising hopes that we might be seeing the start of a sea change in the attitude of our public servants toward power and its perks.

Cynics say if the change is happening, it’s purely because public officials are increasingly left with no choice but to act as models of responsible citizenship if they want political staying power. Smartphones, CCTVs, drones and the Internet have made it easier to document abusive or criminal behavior and monitor those who are living beyond their means. And social media can destroy political fortunes at warp speed.

Technology has empowered ordinary citizens, and heightened awareness of how public funds are spent. Especially when hefty fuel taxes under the Tax Reform for Acceleration and Inclusion or TRAIN Law have caused runaway inflation. Why are we wasting people’s money for the upkeep of lawmakers like Aniceto Bertiz III?

His VIP tantrum should also lead to a review of the party-list system, which with Supreme Court blessing has become a travesty of the intent of the Constitution. The party-list has put on taxpayers’ payroll the likes not only of Bertiz but also Jovito Palparan, representatives of religious groups, and some of the wealthiest Filipinos who claim to represent marginalized sectors.

And yet the proposed federal charter is even proposing to increase party-list representation. Aren’t Pinoy taxpayers burdened enough with the current HOR?

Bertiz is reportedly being disowned by certain members of his own party list. He can still be a model – for what a public servant should not be.