NEA’s Golden Girl May be Highly-achieved, but she’s still UNQUALIFIED
Pre-Semester Non-Lecture Analysis 44
Qualification is a tricky issue. To run for President of the Philippines, you must be at least 40 years old, natural-born Filipino, able to read and write, a registered voter and a resident in the Philippines in the last ten years. That’s it.
But to apply as saleslady in a department store, you should have completed at least 2 years of college work, be able to communicate well preferrably in English, having computer literacy is an advantage, previous work experience definitely an edge. To prove good moral character, you must submit clearances from the Police, NBI, MTC, RTC, Prosecutor’s office, and submit at least three character references—well-respected people who can vouch for your character. You may as well throw in any certificates of seminars, trainings or workshops you’ve attended to sweeten the pot.
The qualifications for saleslady are higher than for president. You can be almost anything and still be president. Even a boxer.
Of course, that doesn’t mean the humbler the resumé, the higher you can aim. One time, Malacañan had to recall an appointee to the Commission on Higher Education when it was discovered he did not even finish college.
Ask yourself: has there ever been a time when the one appointed to head the Department of Health was not a doctor?
Has there ever been a time when the Chairman of COMELEC was not a lawyer?
Do you think it would be a great idea to appoint a veterinarian as BIR Commissioner?
“We cannot be a nation of square pegs in round holes,” the Supreme Court said in one decision where it told somebody who flunked the national medical admission test he cannot force a medical school to accept him.
But I think this was explained best by Mick Jagger when he sang, “You don’t always get what you want!”
The educational attainment of NEA’s golden girl is lofty, no question. Post-graduate studies from Down Under? Awesome. She is qualified to be appointed NEA Administrator, or head of the Energy Regulatory Commission, even secretary of the Department of Energy. In fact, she was an assistant secretary already, nothing to scoff at. That’s sub-cabinet level—why, that’s the same level once held by Mocha Uson.
Unfortunately, to be appointed general manager of an electric cooperative, you have to be an electrical engineer, mechanical engineer, electronics and communications engineer, finance expert or behavioral scientist. In which of these round holes does the square peg of being a lawyer fit?
So you see, it’s not a question of how high up in the academic ladder you were able to climb. It’s about matching the competence with the nature of the work to be done. In short, it’s all about finding the right tool to do the job right.
A philips screwdriver cannot twist a flathead screw. Of course, you can substitute the philips screwdriver for an ice pick. But you have to work in an ice plant. Or a halo-halo stand.
The author is a writer and lawyer based in Baguio City, Philippines. Former editor of the Gold Ore and Baguio City Digest, professor of journalism, political science and law at Baguio Colleges Foundation (BCF). He is a photographer and video documentarist. He has a YouTube channel called “Parables and Reason”