Besties

Thanks to the propensity of many people to post anything and everything about themselves on social media, Filipinos can get a glimpse of what our government officials are doing when our taxes send them overseas on official business to represent the country.

An undersecretary for legal and special concerns at the Department of Tourism recently drew flak from netizens together with her bestie, the treasurer of Mandaue City, for prioritizing eating in Japan over a meeting of (in their own words) “national concern” – and even exulting about it on Facebook. Both officials are lawyers.

The socmed posts of Undersecretary Mae Elaine Bathan, who is also the chief of staff of the tourism secretary, and her bestie Regal Oliva have been deleted, but not before netizens captured the posts and circulated them.

Japan is one of the most expensive places in the world to visit. What was the treasurer of Mandaue doing in Japan? Filipino taxpayers bankrolled the travel to that country of Bathan, Oliva and probably several other persons to attend what the best friends described as a meeting on the upcoming “airport takeover and privatization” – presumably referring to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport.

Why the officials are in Japan instead of South Korea is unclear. San Miguel Corp.’s partner in the NAIA privatization is the South Korean operator of that country’s world-class Incheon International Airport.

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Based on the now-deleted posts, Bathan was in the middle of a meeting when she received an SOS from Oliva, asking for help in using Google Translate so the Mandaue official could order food in a place with no English translation.

Was it a pricey dining place with no food photos? I’ve been to various places in Japan a few times and I always managed to order food by myself, even without English translation, simply by pointing to photos of the dishes or to the food itself, going around the counter in sushi bars or being cooked in front of me. Sign language also works; Japan is a cosmopolitan country and one of the most visited by international travelers, and the locals are used to interacting with foreigners.

The screenshots with accompanying captions that riled netizens included one from Bathan: “When your bestfriend calls you because she needed help on Google Translate so she can eat and thrive in Japan, all else will have to stop. Even if it’s about the airport takeover and privatization.”

A thrilled Oliva, in her account that she captioned “True Story,” noted that Bathan “was in the middle of a very important meeting that concerns a sensitive national issue.”

Oliva then posted a supposed transcript of their conversation, with Bathan giving the instructions for Google Translate and commenting: “Maaaa, you don’t know what meeting I had to stop for this, but ok... Hahaha – feeding you in Japan is more important than matters of national concern Ma.”

Amid the online flak, Oliva apologized on Facebook for the “lapse of judgment” that “tarnished” her bestie’s integrity because of her posts that “had been taken out of context, primarily because I exaggerated parts of my conversation with a friend.”

Part of the apology might have made it worse though: “Maybe my true-to-life experience of having the most difficult time in Japan led me to desperately seek help, but sorry. (crying emoji) for Elaine will always come on top of mind when it comes to ‘call a friend.’ ”

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Social media should carry something like the Miranda warning: Anything you post can and will be used against you, either in a court of law or in the court of public opinion.

Bathan apologized last Friday to the public and her boss, Tourism Secretary Christina Frasco, after expressing “regret” over the negative reactions to her posts, which are “taking away attention from more serious matters that we have been working tirelessly on.”

She said her social media activity “never intends to disrespect” her office and her colleagues.

Supporters of the two lawyers will likely dismiss the online flak as much ado over nothing. But President Marcos is already getting enough flak for traipsing all over the planet at taxpayers’ expense with his coterie of billionaire kith and kin plus super alalays, including sneaking out to Singapore two years in a row now for Formula One.

The factotums in his administration should be more circumspect in indulging their tax-funded travel bug, especially when all reputable surveys show that economic problems continue to be the main concerns of Filipinos and the national debt has breached the P15-trillion mark.

BBM should be issuing that order for circumspection especially following the Pulse Asia poll last month showing the steepest drop yet in his performance rating. (Surely he knows enough to ignore the fly-by-night polls showing otherwise.) But how can he do this when his subordinates are merely following the jet-setting leader?

Over the years, several ambassadors especially from advanced economies have told me they found it remarkable that Philippine presidents travel overseas with such large contingents of public officials. One ambassador of a G-7 state told me that if it happened in his country, the head of government could be ousted.

Let’s hope the lesson learned in this incident in Japan is for public servants to serve the public well and to use people’s money judiciously.

More likely, however, the indelible lesson from this incident is mainly to be careful about what one posts on social media.