EDITORIAL - Sacked for poor performance

Because of an escalator malfunction and its delayed repair, Oscar Bongon was sacked as general manager of the Metro Rail Transit Line 3.

Ten passengers were injured when the escalator at the Taft Avenue station of the MRT-3 malfunctioned on March 8. New Transportation Secretary Vince Dizon fired Bongon, saying it took several days before the escalator was repaired, causing inconvenience to passengers.

It’s rare to see public officials being held accountable and penalized for poor performance, so the news about Bongon has been generally welcomed by the public. There are also speculations, however, that Dizon merely looked for an excuse to replace the MRT-3 manager with his own man – reportedly another person who, like Dizon, served in government during the Duterte administration.

A good way for Dizon to dispel such speculations is by imposing similar sanctions on other poor performers in the Department of Transportation.

In Japan in 2018, a rail operator issued a public apology for the “inexcusable” departure of an express train 25 seconds earlier than scheduled, which the company said caused “great inconvenience” to its customers.

Filipinos aren’t expecting such commitment to punctuality from transport operators. But commuters expect speedy action on glitches on the light railways and other public transport facilities, whether operated by the government or the private sector.

Following the sacking of Bongon, people are also hoping that similar sanctions will be imposed on poor performers in all government agencies including in local government units.

LGUs and barangay offices continue to be the subjects of complaints for red tape, graft and poor delivery of basic services. Two laws have been passed to cut red tape and promote ease of doing business, but the complaints persist. Several business groups and foreign missions have said that corruption has even worsened.

The nation has a poor record in holding public officials and employees accountable for the delivery of substandard products and services. Three weeks after one section of a P1.22-billion bridge in Isabela province collapsed less than a month after it was opened, the effort to determine culpability is crawling along.

Nearly every administration has promised to “rightsize” the government, only to go in the opposite direction as it doles out government jobs for patronage, gerrymanders and creates more agencies that add to bureaucratic fat. This approach to job generation courtesy of taxpayers has not translated into improved services. Poor performers should at least face sanctions for failure to deliver what they are paid to do by taxpayers.