‘Courtesy’ resignation: Why blame election fiasco on Cabinet?

FOLLOWING his interview with broadcast journalist Anthony ‘Ka Tunying’ Taberna last May 19, PBBM doubled down by calling last May 22 for the ‘courtesy resignation’ of his entire Cabinet, presidential advisers, and other heads of agencies that he appointed to their current positions.

PBBM made these efforts in the aftermath of the disastrous result of the midterm polls last May 12 that has shown the extent of the public’s discontent over his leadership.

While the public felt his sincerity when he said he acknowledges that Filipinos have grown “tired” of the politicking that dominated much of the first half of his term, they find hollow his call for a “reconciliation” with the camp of his predecessor, former President Rodrigo Duterte.

This, after he prefaced his reconciliation call by saying he would let the impeachment of Vice President Sara Duterte to proceed as the “process” is already ongoing in the Senate.

Too, he is silent on the clamor for the return of President Duterte, who, rightly or wrongly, was perceived by most Filipinos as an “abduction” if not outright “kidnapping” when he was forcibly transported to The Hague last March 10 to stand trial before an international Kangaroo Court that is the International Criminal Court (ICC) over “crimes” that would struggle to pass the scrutiny of our own courts.

With just about 14 percent trust rating, according to the March survey of Publicus Asia, coupled with the polls’ result that spoke volumes of the public’s real sentiment, PBBM’s call for the submission of courtesy resignation by his appointees seems to send the message that he is “blaming” them—not his decisions– for the present mess he has found himself in now.

While PBBM insisted the call is all about “recalibrating” his government to better serve our people, those affected—and their own supporters– are not seeing it that way.

For them, forcing the Cabinet to resign equals their being blamed for the election result fiasco that they have nothing to do with.

We worry that by this decision, PBBM added to the instability of his own administration by implying that everyone should be ready to be blamed except him.

That is not a good way to restore confidence in one’s leadership.