It seems to me that when something goes wrong in the Philippines, someone gets fired and possibly prosecuted. There was a jail break in Bogo City on Sunday and one of the escapes ended up dead when police shot him a couple of days later.
One news paper article wondered why the police chief in Bogo City was not fired immediately. The Director of the Cebu Provincial Police Office had laid down a police that when there was 
a jail break, the police chief over that jail would be fired immediately. It appear though he has not enforced this policy as another jail has had two jail breaks and the chief there remained in his job.
Officials are considering criminal charges against the jailer that was watching TV when the escape happened. I’ve noted that on several situations here, people don’t just get fired over an issue, they might very well end up in jail too.
Earlier this month, a high ranking official of the Coast Guard was relieved of command after a ferry sank when it was caught in a sudden thunderstorm. The ship’s captain was taken into custody immediately following the event as well. The Coast Guard claimed he didn’t have permission to sail and the boat was over crowded but the captain said he did have permission and the boat was not over crowded. I don’t know how that came out. Ferry mishaps are not uncommon in the Philippines, perhaps some procedures were broken.
I don’t know what to make of all of this. Maybe where I am from is just to relaxed about this kind of thing and the Filipino have it right. Perhaps procedure was not followed in all the above cases, it is hard to know. It seems though, when something goes wrong in the Philippines, someone has a good chance of loosing their job.
About Rusty
Hi Rusty,
Getting “fired” is just the preliminary action. It’s an administrative process that relieves the employee from its duties so as to protect the public from further harm and not to jeopardize any investigations and hearing that must come after the “firing/suspension”. All that does not preclude any civil and criminal liabilities that may be found after the hearing.
So clearly, there are legal processes involved and heads do roll. But does that assure the public that they will get competent people to work for them? No, because from one head that just rolled, another one will rear its ugly incompetent head. After that, hopefully we learn our lesson.
Hey Roy…. Sorry for my delayed reply. I’ve been changing from Windows to Linux and I’m so happy I did. Of course, there are headaches associated with that kind of thing.
Always a legal process? If so, I think I’d just take up begging! Risk of working would be too high.
I saw on official say there was no reason to fire him, he had done nothing wrong and he would continue to do reports on the incident until his replacement arrived. That was kind of shocking since it was a military position. I suspected right off, it was an attempt to protect himself by continuing to prepare reports about the situation and enter them into the official record. I would love to know how that turned out.
Since forigners are not allowed to speak out on such matters, I’m not taking a position on it nor directly saying which situation it is.
I’ve been having some serious writers block lately…..
grrrr forgot to fix spelling errors.
I love this picture. I was pretty shocked to see the people in the jail so happy to have their pictures taken even while in jail.
Hi Rusty, I think a lot of people in ‘developed’ nations would like to see some of this style of justice. Isn’t it called ‘accountability’?
Sometimes it has more to do with blaming someone and that always ends up with the people at the bottom paying the price. I can think of some instances that has happened here but its best if i don’t point them out. I like it here.
Take a look at the prison scandal the US had in Iraq. That went all the way to Rumsfield, he’s an evil little man, LOL. Who paid the price, some low ranking soldiers doing only what they were told. The judge wouldn’t even let one of them plead guilty because he knew she was being scape-goated and he\they are trying to make her talk. if you point the blame at someone else (Scooter Libby) then it makes it harder to blame you for it.
I love accountability, I insisted on it when I worked because I did a good job 9 times out of 10 and that one time i’d do better next time.
But I am suspicious by nature so I d on’t trust those at the top to do what is right. Maybe cause I worked for Uncle Sam as a civilian for nearly 20 years. LOL nearly impossible to get fired from that job.
Hi Rusty- Please… please… please… no US Politics on this site. Frankly, Rumsfeld and Libby have nothing to do with the Bogo City Jail, so there is no need to discuss them. I do all that I can to keep US political discussion off this site.
I will do my best to remember that. Its your site, your rules.
But I will take exception to your comment that they didn’t belong in the post. I considered removing that for that reason but then realized, they are in the post so I could illustrate this idea of accountability often leaves the people that should be held accountable walk way unscathed. Talking about specific cases in the Philippines is meddling in internal affairs and risk getting one booted out of the country. That’s why I went that way. I will try to remember, just be prepared to yell at me again.
Hi Rusty- I don’t think I yell too hard, so it should not be too bad!
Talking politics only drives people away, especially since this is not what the site is about. I know that when I read that stuff, I tend not to come back very often, even if it is a site that I otherwise like.
Yea I have to agree with you Bob ,I did all my politicking last Nov. don’t want to hear about it anymore ….And I agree with Rusty, someone has to pay and usually the little people who do …
well Rusty I feel your pain. At work I cant talk about politics as I am a cashier and some people might get mad. I have a degree in Political science and can get into a good talk on the day to day subjects. The powers that be told me to just talk about the weather. Ha Ha
Hey Don,
I’ve been thinking about starting a political site and a site on economics too but if I keep building sites on all the subjects I enjoy, I’ll never have any content for my blog. LOL
If you like, you can come to http://www.rustyferguson.com and we can talk about that there. Bob is cool with me posting my link. I would welcome more discussion. I have no problem with Bob’s rules.