Think about it
Dr. Pingkoy Duque tops them all!
By Jun Velasco
IN A TALK on National Discipline years back before the police provincial command ( we saw colleagues Ruben Rivera and Zarsi Manuel in the officers’ gallery), we advised our audience to behave like they were being watched at all times by their superior officer even when left alone in the crime zone.
There are rules to follow, we said, and any misstep (a variance from the rules) could derail a military action plan and court disaster.
When a cop is out in the field, we said, there’s no one to instructhim anymore, and so he must be guided by the rules of warfare to defeat the enemy.
In our day-to-day lives, it must be the duty of everyone including civilians too, to watch his steps or better still, to watch his life. We should behave like we were in a banquet all the time.
Our idea of discipline — national or personal — calls to mind a person who uses the toilet. He should maintain hygiene, not only for himself but for the next user as well. Personal discipline should extend to the community and the nation.
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One of the well-known practices of government bosses is to have a “toughie,” a “black sheep” a court jester, a sort of contra bida in his staff. By doing so, he tells everyone ” be careful with me, I have a dog, a loco at my beck and call.”
Often the toughie is a whipping boy for the boss’ anomalies. The boss is clean at the expense of the escape goat.
The practice is also designed to give the boss an image that he is human, that he belongs also to the “other side.” How many bosses keep in their closets a known jueteng lord, a Smart Aleck, a greedy contratista, a bugaw, a known sinecure, -a mistress, a fair-haired boy?
We find this practice as the boss’ justification for his anomalies, his involvement in illegal or immoral activities .This smart practice is not smart so, if you may.
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Health Sec. Francisco “Pingkoy” Duque III, – the youngest of the four Duque brothers (Dr. Ado, tycoon Cesar and hibernating columnist Gonzalo – is showing all and sundry what a model government executive should be.
In just a span of two weeks, the junior of the junior: Dr. Francisco Q. Duque, Jr., former health secretary, topped popularity ratings in performance and as a nemesis of graft and corruption.
First, the accolade came from the private survey group, Social Weather Stations, and the second, from Malacañang’s own assessment itself.
Pingkoy’s example should inspire fellow Pangasinenses who have been thrust in the aura of respectability because of our unending line of national leaders. Gifted with the charisma and the gait of the late Paco, Pingkoy moves with the agility of an athlete, according to Balita writer Liezle Basa – Iñigo, and a work ethic that proximate that of the workaholic president.
Most of all, according to his secretary Vangie, Pingkoy is honest to a fault, a rare gem in a pile of dried leaves of corruption. His DOH office is spic ‘n span but looks like an album of memories of former secretaries and personnel who took care of the nation’s health.
Pingkoy will surely go down in DOH’s history as probably the best loved and most popular secretary.
Congratulations!
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