Moral high ground

“Deception is still the cloud that colors the way we see those whom we call leaders, the ones whom we wonder about when controversies come rolling out.

The tale of two police officers who had been hogging headlines lately is one that should give everyone pause.

Forget the scandal, the controversy, the blame game — it is a story that persists in our midst simply because we may have forgotten one thing: valor.

After former police official Benjamin Magalong revealed information that linked just resigned Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Oscar Albayalde to the issue of “ninja cops,” the turn of events had left a bad taste in the mouth.

Without saying that anyone is guilty or tainted with corruption, the whole thing stinks of decay.

The top officers in question are in the thick of the process of determining the truth. So really, this discourse has little to do with them as much has it to do with that little nugget uttered by Magalong on “moral high ground.”

This came after Albayalde chose to step down following the implication in statements made about his supposed involvement in the protection of former subordinates when they allegedly made off with some P648 million worth of shabu in 2013.

Magalong said Albayalde, then Pampanga police chief, sought to defer the dismissal order against his former subordinates.

Albayalde said he was innocent and that he was studying possible legal actions against his accusers.

It has been, like many familiar times in our history, a tug of war — a war of words, his word against another.

At this point, when we have gone through countless issues that have proven — not anyone’s guilt or innocence, sad to say — that we will be left once more with nothing much to hold on to, not one person or institution we can fully trust and that certainty that we would have to make our own judgment.

So, Magalong said, in a recent news show, “It’s deception to portray we are the ones lying and not him. If I were in his shoes, it’s the best course of action I will have to take.”

Deception is another word that has hung over the heads of many leaders. The public trust ratings had been very telling through the years — from Gloria Macapagal Arroyo’s negative numbers to Rodrigo Duterte’ s consistent highs.

But deception is still the cloud that colors the way we see those whom we call leaders, the ones whom we wonder about when controversies come rolling out and they are the ones who are caught in the midst of the frenzy.

On the whole, Albayalde has been held in high regard for a sterling career and relatively unsullied record. Except that his stint in Pampanga has now come back to haunt him.

It is unfortunate that it should come at this point, just before he is set to retire. It must have been painful to decide to resign amid a situation like this — when not just your retirement benefits hang in the balance as the case progresses, but most of all your name and reputation.

Albayalde, as reports say, was head of the Pampanga police “when 13 of its officers were accused of pilfering some 160 kilos of shabu from a 2013 operation against a suspected Chinese drug lord.”

He was eventually absolved of involvement, but the mere fact he was head of that unit colors every claim now that years, possibly decades, of dishonest activities had been unveiled in the various agencies under the PNP.

The lesson here on valor is hinged on a question we should learn to ask ourselves: what would you do if you were in a similar situation?

Doing the right thing requires the hardest form of courage from a person.

Valor is great courage in the face of danger. Sometimes, in life, when the hardest thing to do is die within yourself — to refuse the easier path, the safer way — but you still do it, that is valor.

Again, to quote Magalong: “At the end of the day, it’s all about the truth. When everything is laid out and spelled out, the truth will come out that we are the ones who are actually telling the truth.”