Executive assistants; military junta

By Alex P. Vidal

“It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend.”― William Blake

The Filipinos will surely reject any attempt to install a military junta in the Philippines if agitators succeed in yanking out “weak” President Marcos Jr.

Even if they will be allegedly led by a civilian leader (this is a trap that no sane person should believe), military juntas have been considered dangerous in the past and even in present times.

Military juntas systematically dismantle democratic institutions, lead to widespread human rights abuses, spark or intensify armed conflict and civil war, cause significant economic devastation, and result in major humanitarian crises.

Many Filipinos are afraid or adamant to call for Mr. Marcos Jr.’s resignation because the alternative is more dangerous: Vice President Sara Duterte-Carpio.

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They expressed the same fears when then President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was on the verge of being kicked out of Malacanang because of the “Hello Garci” tragedy.

If Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo is gone, there’s no other alternative but to install the second highest elected official in the land.

People feared then Vice President Noli de Castro, who was perceived to be grossly incompetent (it’s good the lunkhead did not insist to replace Mrs. Macapagal-Arroyo).

Thus, they rejected any thought of replacing the diminutive lady president even if she was becoming a liability to the country.

If a military junta will take over after Mr. Marcos Jr. has resigned, it’s better to embrace Duterte-Carpio.

Even if she is perceived to be a wacko, at least she’s civilian.

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WE aren’t saying here that all executive secretaries or executive assistants of governors, mayors, or all local government chief executives in the Philippines can’t be trusted because of what happened to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

But careful scrutiny and eagle-eye review and examination of what they are doing—or signing (or the paperworks they forward to the offices of the mayors and governors for signature) won’t hurt if only to avoid a repeat of Mr. Marcos Jr.’s predicament (we aren’t saying also with absolute certainty that the president was indeed betrayed by dismissed executive secretary Lucas Bersamin).

Sometimes we fall not because we lose a big battle against our tough adversaries. We fall because we dine, laugh, and sleep with our enemies.

Executive assistants or secretaries are considered as the “alter egos” of presidents, governors, or mayors. They are the chief executives’ “left hands.”

Some of the most delicate and sometimes confidential matters are normally entrusted to the executive assistants or executive secretaries; that’s why they must be “the most trusted” in the circle other than the chief executive’s wife.

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Mr. Marcos Jr. was not the first leader in history to be “betrayed” by an acolyte.

To name only a few, who can forget Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator assassinated in 44 BC by a group of senators, including his friend and protege Marcus Junius Brutus?

What made the betrayal particularly personal and shocking was that Caesar had previously pardoned Brutus after he fought against him in a civil war and promoted him to a position of trust.

Who can forget Jesus Christ, betrayed according to the New Testament, by one of his 12 apostles, Judas Iscariot, who pointed him to the Roman authorities for 30 pieces of silver?

Who can George Washington, betrayed by General Benedict Arnold, a respected officer who eventually became the United States’ most infamous traitor, during the American Revolutionary War?

Arnold plotted to surrender the American fort at West Point to the British, motivated by a series of slights and professional disputes with the Continental Congress.

Arnold’s name became synonymous with treason in the U.S. even if the plot was discovered.

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Based on what happened to Mr. Marcos Jr., many think it’s too risky and dangerous to trust our subalterns too much. Some signs that we blindly trust our aides are as follows:

1. When we really believe people say what they really believe or will do.
2. When we share our heart talk very easily.
3. Those who act close, we do things for them going out of the way even when it hurts us or causes issues for us.
4. When we believe people around understand us and our circumstances and will never ditch us.
5. When we believe people don’t act out of self interest especially and even when they do, we trust them they won’t harm us or leave us.

Most of us who have blindly trusted people have found that many

1. Take advantage of our trust and create misunderstandings with others.
2. Many act in self-interest and do things that are a betrayal.
3. Exploit the person, emotionally drain them and many times leave them forever.
4. Leave the person once they no longer add value or someone else does better!

(The author, who is now based in New York City, used to be the editor-in-chief of two leading daily newspapers in Iloilo, Philippines.—Ed)