EDITORIAL - Davide unruffled by the inane

Chief Justice Hilario Davide Jr. said last Friday that he has no plans for a government position beyond his retirement in December. With those words, Davide was just being true to his humble and gentlemanly self. Lesser men would have been more brusque.

But that is getting ahead of the story. What Davide said was actually in response to a suggestion that he take over the post of Simeon Marcelo as Ombudsman when Marcelo himself bows out of government service in November, the effectivity of his resignation.

Had Davide not been the fine Cebuano that he is, he would have taken umbrage at the suggestion. Without meaning to disparage either Marcelo or the Office of the Ombudsman, why would in fact a chief justice step down to become ombudsman?

And who made the suggestion? Oh, a senator named Francis Pangilinan, who some people even to this day snidely refer to behind his back as Mrs. Sharon Cuneta. Pangilinan is of course in no position to make such an offer. But to even just think loudly about it tells a lot about him.

What could have Pangilinan been thinking? Is he bored? Have the aimless Senate inquiries that have taken the senators way out of their legislative priorities taken their toll on some like Pangilinan?

Davide is already enshrined in the hearts and minds of those Filipinos, especially his brother Cebuanos who still value decency, honesty, pride and hard work. In these Davide has more than amply proven his worth.

It is not a matter of condescension that he should refuse what is, in the first place, a very tactless and ill-informed suggestion. It is a matter of propriety for which Pangilinan should not have tried to test, especially if tested out of either spite or ignorance.

If ever Davide allows himself to be enticed into holding yet another government position, it should be no less than as president of the republic. But that is something that only he, and eventually the Filipino people, will decide.

In the meantime, Davide should feel comfortable in the thought that he has done a good job serving his country well and that he has done the Cebuanos very proud. No need to entertain ridiculous and way way out proposals.