"Everything is your fault." (Part 1)

That’s the first rule of leadership.

“Everything is your fault.”

Even a grasshopper would tell that rule to embattled Senator Juan Ponce Enrile.

In a not-so-surprising twist in the unraveling P10B PDAF scam drama, Enrique dela Cruz, Enrile’s lawyer and spokesperson, portrayed the senator as an unwitting victim. 

He did not sign any document directing the use of his funds to NGOs. He only signed documents to allocate funds to local government units… If his people or his employees did not follow his instruction or did something to divert the funds to NGO’s, Senator Enrile did not order it… So it’s not fair to blame Enrile for this mess… (Source: Inquirer.Net)

So, who’s at fault? Dela Cruz laid the blame entirely on Enrile’s former chief of staff, Jessica Lucila “Gigi” Reyes who “had allegedly authorized the release of millions of Enrile’s pork barrel funds to questionable NGOs linked to detained Janet Lim-Napoles.” (Ibid) Gigi was also one of those 38 people facing plunder, bribery, malversation of funds, and graft and corruption charges before the Ombudsman. In a seeming “implied admission of guilt,” Gigi allegedly fled the country even before the Department of Justice filed those charges. Of course, Enrile “has no communication with Reyes and no update on her whereabouts.” (Source: Rappler)

Gigi Reyes (center) with Senator Juan Ponce Enrile (R). Image source: Rappler

So now Enrile has a convenient but not convincing excuse.

“Gigi did it. Not me.”

I imagine Pontius Pilate saying, “I could wash my hands better than that!” 

This Gigi alibi provoked a lot of buzz on Twitter.

A person tweeted, “Sad. JPE had time to play Bejeweled (or was it Candy Crush) during a Senate committee hearing but couldn't monitor his #PDAF? Tsk.”

He was referring to that time when Enrile was caught on cam playing the game on his iPad during office hours. A mere employee, both government and private, would have been at least reprimanded for doing so. But not Enrile. He excused it (predictably) by saying he was just “exercising his gray matter.” (Source: Inquirer.Net)

Image source: Inquirer.Net

But, when it comes to signing PDAF documents, Enrile apparently did not exercise his gray matter. 

Yet, I find it dubious. Another person tweeted, “Hardly plausible, what with his cunning, guile, & experience. He is no greenhorn.” 

I remember during the 1998 presidential election that a political magazine trumpeted Enrile as the most qualified among the candidates given his vast experience in the government. That magazine has long been out of print. And now we know why. 

"First rule of leadership. Everything is your fault." Image source: Scoop.It

Enrile has failed the first leadership rule. Everything is the leader’s fault. A true leader washes the feet of his followers. A false leader washes his hands.

Even if, for argument’s sake, Gigi pulled a fast one on him, he could have checked or called for a regular audit of his P200M annual pork barrel. If at the very least he was that negligent, for me he is still guilty for government officials are duty-bound to exercise due diligence.

Negligence is a sin of omission. It is as damning as the sin of commission. 

My take? Remember the first rule of leadership.

Read Part 2 Part 3