LEADERSHIP SHOULD BE SEEN, NOT ABSENT

The Philippines’ most powerful seats are being left empty at vital moments where there should be leadership. Vice President Sara Duterte has not attended recent impeachment proceedings by the House Committee on Justice. Senator Ronald ‘Bato’ Dela Rosa has likewise been absent in the Senate since November, making him the most absent senator. Several other government officials have filed for leave from duty during public scrutiny of their actions.

This is not about showing up; it's about being a good leader. It's the right time to apply the same standards that regular workers face, where when they file a single absence, they are met with a barrage of questions, while officials aren't even slapped on the wrist.

In the recent impeachment proceedings, the vice president's three consecutive absences reveal a pattern of ignorance to transparency that defies the promise she took to "do justice to every man." While the House Committee on Justice has only invited her, meaning she lacks a legal requirement to attend, her and all government officials' obligation should not only be to the law but also to each Filipino who deserves to know how their taxes are being spent.

For a regular Filipino worker, you cannot wake up one day and say that your work schedule conflicts with another schedule because it can mean that you will not eat for the day. Still, our officials treat their seats as optional, enjoying the luxury of disappearance that their very own people could never afford.

While workers earning ₱658–₱695 daily risk losing their livelihood after repeated absences, government officials earning over ₱270,000 monthly face no consequences for failing to appear to their duties.

A dinner table is the heart of the Filipino home, the place where we face our family through hardships and problems. But when one family member leaves an empty seat amidst a problem, it's abandonment.

The same applies in the government; we are all one big family, and when officials leave seats empty during the nation's most heated crises, it shows a lot about how they lead. Our officials are doing more than just skipping a meeting; they are walking out, showing that they would rather hide than face the people.

Excuses that these hearings are "political circuses" or "fishing expeditions" are not valid. A common citizen cannot reason with their employer about bias when they are questioned why they are absent. By prioritizing political survival over accountability, they aren’t serving the Filipino people; they are serving only themselves.

Until attendance is enforced with consequence, those empty seats will remain—not symbols, not accidents, but receipts of a system that allowed itself to fail and chose to look away.

Editorial Cartoon by: Mary Fianza