Must they wait until they are publicly told that what they are doing is contrary to official decency in governmental affairs?

I am calling attention to Malacañang’s recent admonition to government officials who have been increasingly seen in double-spread newspaper and television advertisements in the guise of showing their purported accomplishments during their watch.

These officials well know, as everybody does, that the multi-million peso ads that they put out regularly are meant to project themselves personally for the purpose of their candidacies in next year’s elections.

There are no buts or questions about it.

What is wrong is that their offices are putting the multi-million peso bills for the expensive advertisements in the nature of official expenses.

And that’s only part of the deception: They are also campaigning in advance of the time frame prescribed by the election laws, never mind if they have not yet filed their certificate of candidacy.

Of course, chief presidential legal counsel Raul Gonzalez has said the Cabinet members identified doing such advertisements may not be guilty of violation of election laws but nonetheless, he decried their lack of decency in continually doing them despite open public condemnation that they are meant to advance their political ambitions.

“That’s the ethical problem there,” Gonzalez said, pointing to the names and pictures of the Cabinet members that appear in the "infomercials" that “give rise to the suspicions they are riding on the issues of their departments and reflected in their positions to advance their own personal ends.”

It may be noted that Senator Miriam Defensor-Santiago had earlier frowned on some Cabinet members for allegedly spending R218 million for "infomercials" to advertise themselves obviously for the purpose of their expected 2010 candidacy.

Gonzalez agreed that’s something that should be looked into to determine whether there was abuse in the disbursement of public funds for such anomalous practices.

If so, the appropriate government agency should promptly start investigation to once and for all stop the misuse of public fund if found true, otherwise further postponement would encourage the violators to prolong their fraud.

Some of the Cabinet members mentioned who appear in the "infomercials" include Health Secretary Francisco Duque, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority Chairman Bayani Fernando, Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman, Local Government Secretary Ronaldo Puno, Public Works Secretary Hermogenes Ebdane, and Education Secretary Jesli Lapuz, among others.

Earlier, Malacañang advised Vice-President Noli de Castro to stop his "infomercial" “out of delicadeza.”

Tolerating "infomercials" the way it is practiced by overzealous politicians surely does not foster the most favorable condition for sound public policy.

On the contrary, it distorts public understanding of more profound issues such as official integrity, moral virtue, and national interest.

(zhern_218@yahoo.com)