Command Responsibility in the government bureaucracy simply means that any action taken by the subordinate was a direct order from his/her superior. And he/she has to follow it or else he/she may suffer a dismissal or some form of penalty. He/she has, therefore, a choice to follow the superior’s order or not. As a general rule, legitimate orders are expected from superiors in the government bureaucracy, for efficient and good governance.
The problem or dilemma faced by subordinates in government is that they are employees deriving their
daily bread and butter -- livelihood or means of survival, from such employment. And they may be given
an order that’s illegal, and they are forced to follow or not, according to their conscience. And especially
for subordinates who are in a difficult situation of finding another job (given the hard-to-find-jobs under
this current Uniteam administration), they may use their Christian conscience to disobey or practically
resign, and bear the consequences, or follow the illegitimate order and retain their jobs. Following an
illegitimate order from a superior naturally puts them at risk of personally facing prosecution for
complying with an illegal order. And more often than not, the superior (the mastermind, for all intents
and purposes) who gave the illegal order gets scot-free of any liability.
Such is the desperate situation faced by low-ranking subordinates. Consider particularly the jobs of our
policemen on patrol. The patrolmen and their buddy-paid-vigilantes who personally killed the more than
30,000 victims of EJKs and red-tagging are definitely liable for prosecution. And more so, of course, the
masterminds – that is, extending to the Police Station Commanders, the Police Generals and, above all
undoubtedly, the Mastermind. Considering the past 7 years, former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte is
most guilty for his anti-people unconstitutional brutal policy and program, “Tokhang,” his “War on
Drugs.” Sadly, President Bongbong Marcos, and his subordinates in his administration have not stopped
this program of “Kill, Kill, Kill.” Consider the former president’s son, Davao Mayor Baste Duterte – he has
initiated the same program in his city. The news was a few days after his announcement resulted in four
EJK victims, due process simply thrown away.
The Filipino people understand that in government institutions, the frontliners or direct implementors of
policies and programs are at risk of prosecution, in effect, saving often for good measure the
masterminds of any liability in our Philippine Courts. In short, whatever anti-people, human rights
violations, unjust and inhumane programs this administration carries out or have been carried out by
the past regime effectively and legally rests with the mastermind, while not disregarding the liabilities of
other public officials in the hierarchy. That is, the most guilty in the implementation of illegal or
unconstitutional programs, projects and actions, rests with the head-of-state, namely, President
Bongbong Marcos and former president Rodrigo Roa Duterte.
#WeTakeAStand #OpinYon #PoliticsIsLife #ColumnbyBoniMacaranas #PoliticsIsLife