EDITORIAL - Nobody resigns in the Philippines

Former South Korean president Roh Moo-hyun recently leaped to his death from a cliff about three weeks ago, a suicide apparently prompted by a penetrating corruption investigation into his activities while still in power.

In Britain, members of the oldest legislative body in the world were exposed as having charged a wide variety of expenses to taxpayers, prompting a number of resignations, including that of the speaker.

If we could come up with a list of similar actions by officials in other countries who get caught in uncompromising positions, that list would go on and on, from the recent to the nearly forgotten.

But if such a list were made available now, one thing would be certain — it would not include an action of like nature by a Philippine politician. It is not in the nature of the Filipino official to step down in face of controversy or disgrace.

President Arroyo, who has become one of the most unpopular leaders the Philippines ever had in face of mounting allegations of corruption, continues to hold on to her post. Not only has she refused to budge, suspicions are also rife she aches for an extension of her term.

The president before her, Joseph Estrada, who was impeached and then ousted, tried and then jailed, all for plunder and graft and corruption, but later freed as part of political accommodation, now longs unabashedly to return to the Palace.

Prior to them, Ferdinand Marcos, despite charges of corruption and abuses, tried every trick in the book, including martial law, to stay in power. Ousted by a peaceful revolution, he went into exile and died. But his family is back. Not only that, they are back in power.

Other examples worthy of mention are several local officials, from high financial centers like Makati to old Spanish towns like Iloilo, who refused to acknowledge lawful court orders and barricaded themselves in government buildings.

The refusal to acknowledge guilt, and the willingness to court chaos just to stay on in office is not very different from the refusal to acknowledge defeat in an election, as in the town of Tudela in Camotes right now, where two "mayors" continue to hold separate offices.

Corruption is not exclusive to the Philippines. It happens everywhere, even in the most advanced and sophisticated countries, like South Korea and Britain. But at least, when people get caught, or feel alluded to, they resign. Here, they nail themselves to the door.