Human follies escape no one and we all stumble every now and again.  When Politicians, celebrities and self proclaimed leaders step into the public arena, by their own choice, the public which they profess to serve holds them up to high standards and morals.  Every move they make is subject to public scrutiny and the media glare.

There’s a whole list of politicians and celebrities who have come unzipped.  Former President Bill Clinton, Tiger Woods, Arnold Schwarnerger and General Petraeus are only some of those who have been caught with they were pants down.  Media backlash was inevitable. Even Prince Harry has had to publicly make amends for his one naughty night in Vegas..

Likewise, the bad boys of the silver screen from Hugh Grant, Robert Downey Jr., Charlie Sheen and his inexplicable “Winning” rants to Lindsay Lohan  have all been given a quick spin by their publicists, exiled to a clinic for a quick detox and instant recovery. The slip of the tongue has been costly for some.  When David Brogden was caught for simply being politically incorrect, he was forced to issue a public apology and step down with dire consequences.

Countries have had to apologize.  Australia has apologized for the stolen generation and has had a sorry day.  The recent Philippines-Taiwan incident has seen President Aquino offer an apology to Taiwan, but it was rejected as being insincere and which has had serious repercussions.

Regardless of their misdeeds –  immoral, illegal or for simply being politically incorrect – they apologized and stepped down from their posts.

Ahhh…but we Filipinos are not quick to say sorry more so, offer an apology.  Nix-nix!  Wrong as they may be – they just ain’t saying it!  Point out a mistake and they’ll snap, rage, twist and turn and come up with some cockamamie story as long as they do not have to admit wrong.

The Philippines are full of politicians who think that because they are in power they are simply infallible.  Remember Senator Sotto who strongly believed that he did not have to apologize for plagiarizing the works of others?  Why, he asked?    In a catholic country such as ours, morality is no longer even a consideration.   Rather than apologise, it’s flaunted with pride as in the case of Erap and other movie stars.  Of course, they also think they are above the media.

But really, hey,  we don’t have to look far.  Right here in our community we catch people blatantly lying and yet there are those who would rather tolerate, condone and  turn a blind eye.  Apathy reigns. “Forgive and forget for the sake of peace and harmony,” some say. They call on human frailty but never admit that they were wrong to start off with.  “Pasensiya na” is their battlecry – not “I am so sorry.”  They’ll twist or reverse the story and start putting the fickle finger of blame to work.   Then off they go armed with a smile and a “beso-beso” on the hunt for other allies whose flimsy-whimsy egos can be greased with trickles of praise.

Most people refuse to accept responsibility for their wrong doing and all they do is deny –  delay – deflect and hope you forget soon enough.  Then they’ll slip into the D-E-W mode – deny, evade, withdraw.  Even when the facts are out in the open; even when the evidence is piling up; they simply turn it around with a “poor-me” and say “haa-ay, bakit sila ganyan?”

Many mistakes have been made and that’s not a problem.  As I said, mistakes happen.  But I have yet to see someone sincerely apologise for the error of their ways and when their actions don’t match their words. Usually the cover up becomes bigger than the sin itself.

Rather than getting a sincere apology, an air of conceit and disdain swishes over them as they utter the words: “mapapagod din yan.”  No solution is ever reached.  At worst, with a bolstered ago and fake bravado,  they go for an encore performance.  Some will deny till their blue in their face and some will stick to the lie until they actually believe the lie themselves.

Most recently, I understand that Mr. Bulseco chose to rip a letter of complaint of the PADER committee addressed to the PCC Board.  Was this simply a reflex action or contempt!  Bulseco seems to be of the opinion that apologies are not necessary.

Without an apology, there can be no forgiveness.  Without forgiveness there can be no healing.  But  really, once the trust  is gone, there can be no respect.  And you can’t glue it back! To be truly sorry, one must express remorse and empathy.  There must be acceptance of responsibility and a resolution.

Alas, are these really the kind of leaders that we have to live with?   Gising Bayan!

Oh, and by the way, who’s running PCC lately? Is it on auto pilot?