‘It took a public outcry on social media to demand accountability, putting not only the errant motorist but even his former organization, the PNP, in its proper place.’
THIS week, the nature of our society was both exposed and put to the test. Exposed and tested by two events totally unrelated. One was the encounter between a gun-toting motorist who confronted a cyclist in Quezon City while the other was the quick passage of the budget of the Office of the Vice President, over the objections of minority members of the House of Representatives.
Totally unrelated, but revealing.
The first went viral so quickly. There apparently was a minor mishap involving a car and a bicycle, which happens not so infrequently on our roads where four-wheel and two-wheel vehicles weave in and out. But in this instance, the man behind the wheel got so incensed he got out of his vehicle, hit the cyclist on the nape, drew a pistol (all seen from video captured on the cellphone of a passing motorist) and even pushed the cyclist to the side of the street (as seen on a CCTV camera covering the area).
But that wasn’t all.
A day later, the PNP (Quezon City) assisted the motorist in a press con. There, the latter complained of unfair social media coverage and revealed that he and the cyclist had settled the matter. But my classmate, Atty. Archie Fortun. was unrelenting, and social media responded. Before you knew, it the whole world (or at least that part that was interested) found out the name of the motorist and his spotty PNP career (he was demoted many times until he was dismissed); the Mayor of Quezon City spoke up and the PNP apologized for appearing to coddle a “multi-penalized” ex-colleague. (Oh, and he lost his employment with the Supreme Court).
It took a public outcry on social media to demand accountability, putting not only the errant motorist but even his former organization, the PNP, in its proper place. But without social media?
On the other side of the globe (so to speak), representatives of the people cut short a very imprint process in representative democracy, asking public servants to be accountable for public funds. On this matter, no public outcry ensued.
I still believe (naively?) that we still live in a democracy. But it is representative democracy, which means people in positions of power (civilian or uniformed) should be marching to the drumbeat we control. But reality seems to tell me otherwise: if they can get away with it, specific organizations coddle their own against poor, helpless individual citizens; others play around with our money, spending it like there was no tomorrow. Imagine a household, I’ve used this example before: in a household the servants demand a budget from the master and mistress of the house; the budget is spent the way the servants want to spend it; the master and mistress cannot do much asking and can only give more every year. Oh, and the servants have first crack at everything in the house — the kitchen, the bedroom, the bathroom, even the pool (if there’s one).
This past week, this stark truth has been exposed, again, for all to see.
But who cares? We are affected more by the National team’s FIBA showing, yes?
FIBA first, democracy last.
