EDITORIAL - Irrevocable resignation

The defense minister of South Korea resigned Thursday night amid public unhappiness over the country’s response to the shelling of one of their islands by North Korea. But South Koreans, from top government officials to the heads of the country’s biggest business conglomerates, are renowned for their readiness to take full responsibility and resign when things go wrong.

Now some Filipinos are hoping that a similar tradition could take root in this country where resignations are rarely irrevocable, where no one admits guilt even after final conviction, and where presidential appointees cling to their posts even when the appointing power has ordered them to vacate their offices or has publicly announced a lack of confidence in them. Amid withering criticism of the Aquino administration’s initial tourism marketing campaign, the designer of the tourism logo, Vicente Romano III, tendered his irrevocable resignation as undersecretary of tourism.

Romano, who was part of the Aquino election campaign team, may not yet be off the hook; some lawmakers reportedly want to conduct an inquiry on whether millions of pesos that went into the logo and website design for the “Pilipinas Kay Ganda” program was money well spent.

 The marketing program is being rebuilt from scratch, starting with the logo and website. President Aquino will have to find someone with original ideas to take charge. This latest furor over another one of his appointees should indicate to him that it could be good for his administration to cast his recruitment net beyond those who helped in his election campaign.

Five months may be a little early for a new government to be changing horses. The President has not yet even completely filled the thousands of vacancies created when he fired the contractual employees and midnight appointees of the Arroyo administration. But Cabinet members serve at the pleasure of the President and must never entertain the thought that they hold a title to their position or they enjoy security of tenure. Public officials must be prepared to take responsibility for their actions, and Cabinet members must be prepared to deflect flak from the President.

More than having subordinates take responsibility for their actions, however, the President needs to constantly assess the performance of his team. He must not hesitate to replace anyone, any time, as the need arises, in the interest of good governance. This administration needs the right team to deliver on its promises.