Lost letters in Palace hint deeper leadership problem

Now we know there is a problem with Malacanang’s communication system. Whether Malacanang knows that is a completely different matter.

Two letters that later on became of national, even international, importance did not reach President Aquino. The first one was a letter from the late Jamalul Kiram III sent in 2010 in the first few months of the Aquino presidency and the other one was just last year from Maria Teresa Martinez, mother of Michael Christian Martinez, the 17-year old who, for the first time, enabled the Philippine flag to fly proudly in the Winter Olympics by making it to the finals of the 2014 Winter Olympics figure skating competition in Sochi, Russia. This, despite lack of financial support from the government.

Kiram III was one of the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu, who has the title to a large part of the mineral-rich Sabah in North Borneo, which is occupied by Malaysia. The Philippines, by virtue of the authorization by the Sultan of Sulu, is claiming Sabah, which Malaysia, five decades ago, included as its territory.

Kiram III wrote Aquino asking for an appointment as he wanted to seek his help in correcting the onerous setup of Malaysia paying a measly sum for Sabah while maltreating Filipinos, hundreds and thousands of them, in the territory.

Not getting any response from Malacanang , Kiram III took the matter into his hands and last year, sent his followers to Lahad Datu, a village in Sabah, which led into a bloody confrontation with Malaysian forces.

Malaysia also renewed its brutal immigration sweep forcing thousands of Filipinos out of their homes in Sabah fleeing to the sea.

Malacanang later explained that Kiram’s letter was lost “in the bureaucratic maze.”
While Kiram’s letter was delivered the traditional way, by messenger, Mrs. Martinez sent her letter by e-mail:op@gov.ph, which was opened to show the accessibility of Aquino to the public.

In an interview with Yahoo, Philippines, Martinez said, “On October 2013, I wrote the Office of the President, via email, requesting for assistance/direction on how we can inform President Aquino that my homegrown athlete son, Michael, has qualified in the 2014 Winter Olympics and that we badly need the government’s financial support.”

Communications Secretary Herminio Coloma, Jr. said they never got the letter from Mrs. Martinez and surmised that it went into the spam folder which they don’t open for security reasons.

We are using the word “surmise” because Malacanang is not sure about the “spam” excuse and is reportedly still “investigating” their non-receipt of Martinez letter.

We are wondering then, what’s really the problem in Malacanang. Is it the communications system? If the problem is competence of the people manning the communications system, maybe, maybe there is still room for improvement in the last 28 months of the Aquino presidency.

But we sense a deeper problem: The leadership’s attitude.

In the case of Kiram III, Aquino and his advisers were dismissive of Kiram III’s cause and were more concerned about not displeasing Malaysia, which brokered the peace agreement between the Philippine government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

In the case of Martinez, Coloma said the President’s instruction was, given the government’s limited resources, “support should be prioritized for events where Filipinos athletes have a good chance of winning.”

There is something wrong with this policy. It runs counter to the essence of sports and the spirit of sportsmanship which is, in the famous words of a sportswriter, “It’s not that you won or lost but how you played the game.”

The President is duty bound to execute the laws of the land. Someone should point out to Aquino Art. XIV, Sec 19 (1) of the Constitution that states, “The State shall promote physical education and encourage sports programs, league competitions, and amateur sports including training for international competitions to foster discipline, teamwork, and excellence for the development of a healthy and alert citizenry.”