EDITORIAL - Midnight madness

Under normal circumstances, it takes from several days to a month for an appointment to a government position to hurdle the bureaucratic red tape, from the moment the appointment is made to its acceptance and then to the swearing in. The red tape was miraculously cut in the days leading up to March 10, the start of the constitutional ban on midnight appointments during an election period.

In those final days, President Arroyo appointed her manicurist and gardener to government positions together with a new military chief as well as judges and justices. Several individuals got themselves appointed to positions with tenure. A number of them have appointment papers dated March 9, the eve of the start of the ban, including the chairman and four board directors of the biggest money-making state firm, the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. PAGCOR head Efraim Genuino and directors Rafael Francisco, Ester Alano Laconico-Feria, Philip Lo and Manuel Roxas had their terms extended by another year.

With incoming president Benigno Aquino III busy putting together a new team, his outgoing predecessor has been just as busy making sure the team will not be as new as he would want. And as she has done throughout her incumbency, President Arroyo is giving away government positions not with efficient public service in mind but as patronage, as going-away presents and rewards for loyalty.

With only a month left in this administration, the Aquino camp has had to keep an eye on the flurry of activities at Malacañang, watching out for midnight deals and drawing up a list of appointments that the new president intends to invalidate. Yesterday the Aquino camp cautioned pro-administration allies against convening the Commission on Appointments within the few days left for congressional work, reportedly upon the request of President Arroyo, to confirm several recent appointments, notably that of her loyal aide, Armed Forces chief Delfin Bangit.

And yet every day Malacañang keeps making public declarations that it wants a smooth transition. The flurry of midnight appointments validates observations that delicadeza, like class, is something that cannot be obtained with money or power. You either have it or you don’t.