EDITORIAL – The adventures of Jinggoy and the DepEd official

A Department of Education official got the ire of Senator Jinggoy Estrada last week because of a directive that the official issued in 2004. The directive, which was about instilling patriotism among students, included guidelines for students who are already in the voting age that said they should "not vote into office actors, actresses, basketball players who do not know their work in Congress because they are not educated for the positions of senator, vice president or president."

While we agree that it was not proper for the education official to specify people from the entertainment industry and basketball players in the voters' guidelines that she prepared, we believe that there was really nothing wrong with the directive, especially after hearing the official's explanation.

Catanduanes Schools Division Superintendent Thelma Bueson explained that she had to use the said personalities as examples in the voters' guide because children from remote villages in Catanduanes have no access to newspapers and are only familiar with showbiz people and basketball players.

Senator Estrada's reaction to the directive was simply too much. There was no reason for him to overact and vent his ire on the official during a Senate hearing that was intended for discussions on the Department of Education's budget for 2006. It was overacting on the part of the senator to ask Bueson to appear during the hearing when he could have just called her to a meeting to discuss the matter. Even other senators complained about Sen. Estrada's grilling of the DepEd official, saying that some of their colleagues were overly sensitive to criticism.

He was all the more overacting when, apparently wanting to destroy Bueson's credibility as an official, he made mention about a petition signed by many of the teachers in Catanduanes denouncing her for her "tyrannical" ways.

It was also uncalled for when the senator raised the issue on the petition against Bueson filed by fellow teachers because if there was a government entity that should address the concern, it is not the Senate of the Philippines but the Department of Education.

People in government, especially those in high positions, should be able to take all kinds of criticism against them. This goes most especially to showbiz personalities who have been elected into office because there are many people who doubt their capabilities in holding government posts.

Showbiz people should take criticisms about their capabilities to handle government positions as challenges. Instead of getting mad on national television, they should prove to people that beyond the glamour and glitter of show business, they are also capable of doing good at other things like being mayor, congressman, senator, or even president of the country.

Come to think of it, Sen. Estrada's actions last week was like a scene from a movie. After he grilled the DepEd official for issuing the directive, he accepted the apology and had lunch with her. Indeed, a very showbiz-like ending! Oh, the title of the movie? The adventures of Jinggoy and the DepEd official.