EDITORIAL - Things getting done without fanfare

The Office of the Ombudsman has found Cebu City Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa guilty of grave misconduct in a case filed against him while still a city councilor. The case involved two schools that he owned which benefitted from the city government's scholarship program. The city paid the schools more than P50 million and still owes them more than P100 million over three academic schoolyears.

Abellanosa has denied conflict of interest and tried to invoke the Aguinaldo Doctrine which wipes out administrative liability upon reelection. But the Ombudsman rejected his arguments and ruled that he be dismissed and barred from public service. It also called for the forfeiture of his benefits. The ruling has been sent to the House of Representatives for action.

The case is likely to provoke much discussion in the coming days. But what many people will likely miss is the fact that, apparently, the Ombudsman has been working quietly and without fanfare on some important cases. The resolution of the Abellanosa case came unexpectedly and caught many by surprise. Nevertheless, it is a most welcome development for which the Ombudsman should be congratulated.

And this brings us to another point, which is that government can actually dispense with a lot of its business away from the glare of television cameras, which seems to be the main preoccupation of certain sectors of government, particularly the Senate. Over at the Senate, nothing seems being done other than the stead stream of investigations.

The Abellanosa case, which is probably just one of many being resolved daily, is the best proof that things can indeed be done if government just buries its head in its responsibilities. The Abellanosa case is an important case, not just locally, but nationally as well. That it calls for the dismissal of a sitting congressman should make the entire nation sit up and notice.

And yet it proceeded away from the limelight. It went on without the hooplah and public attention that Senate investigations seem intended to generate and grab. A lesson to be learned here is that things can proceed quickly when devoid of the distractions that a public spectacle can create. Public spectacles not only distract both people and government from the real issues, they often achieve almost nothing.

Right now, the Senate has not achieved anything from the many investigations it has been conducting. No pieces of legislation have been crafted despite being the supposed purpose for these interminable hearings. On the other hand, away from the limelight, things have proceeded quite well. Maybe it is time the Senate takes the cue from the other branches of government. Maybe it is time it does its real job.