We need results

By Alex P. Vidal

“Success isn’t a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire.” – Arnold H. Glasow

OUR friendly advice to officials in charge of law enforcement under the Marcos Jr. administration is to refrain from constantly calling for press conferences and stay away from media limelight, if possible, if there is nothing positive or concrete matter to report to public.

A dozen regular press conferences can’t compensate for failure to arrest or bring to justice a growing number of fugitives like Gerald Bantag, Atong Ang, Harry Roque, Zaldy Co, Raddulan Sahiron, and now Bato Dela Rosa.

If they are effective and doing their job well, there is no need for these law enforcers to advertise their plans on how to arrest the prominent fugitives; there’s no need for empty press conferences.

The question remains to be when, not how. Results not bragging and swaggering.

Instead of showing off and competing for the headlines, officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Department of Justice (DoJ), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Philippine National Police (PNP) should buckle down to work and prove to all and sundry they deserve to remain in their positions.

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WHY single out Bato?

The Mayors for Good Governance (M4GG) has criticized the continued absence of ICC-fugitive senator Ronald “Bato” Dela Rosa and for receiving his salary worth P2.1 million (or P300,000 a month) in seven months of absence.

In a statement signed by members on May 25, 2026, M4GG, a national movement of over 200 reform-minded local chief executives committed to integrity, transparency, and people-first governance, called Dela Rosa’s act as “a great insult to millions of Filipinos who work hard and endure to support themselves and their families.”

We agree with the M4GG that Bato should not have been given salary while he was away and hiding from the law in the past seven months.

We also agree it was unfair and somehow anomalous for him to pocket the gargantuan amount, including his staff, when he did not report for work and was avoiding the law enforcers ready to get him by virtue of the warrant of arrest issued by the ICC for crimes against humanity.

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But why did the M4GG single out in one statement the fugitive senator when there are other mayors, governors, congresspeople, among other elected officials in the country, who did worse?

Was it because Bato’s case became the talk of the town when he recently surfaced to cast a vote for Alan Peter Cayetano to become senate president only to be allowed to escape after an ICC warrant of arrest was issued against him?

If Bato’s case did not become earthshaking these past weeks and he did not appear to be a villain for escaping, would the M4GG issue such hard-hitting statement?

How about a statement of condemnation against senators, congresspeople, and cabinet officials who stole billions of pesos from kickbacks and other diabolical means via flood control and other infrastructure projects?

According to its website, M4GG was founded on August 24, 2023 and “serves as an independent platform for mayors to collaborate, share best practices, and collectively stand against corruption while strengthening local autonomy and public trust.”

(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)