Fired abroad, flew home alone

An official on the recent Philippine delegation to Singapore reportedly got the shock of his life while there.

Nosy Tarsee’s source said the official, who flew out as part of the entourage, was made to fly home alone on a commercial flight, apart from the rest of the delegation.

Stranger still, the now-former secretary was not allowed back into his office. Since then, he has been allowed to join meetings, but only on Zoom, a name on a screen, with the title quietly dropped.

The trip he had been invited on, it seems, was for his firing.

Think about that. They brought a man abroad, put him in official photographs and let him think he still held the post, then told him he was out. If that’s how it happened, it wasn’t merely a reckless decision. They didn’t even extend him the courtesy.

Government is not a gentle place. Officials come and go, and everyone in it knows it. People are let go for good reasons and bad ones. But there is an accepted way of doing it. You tell the person at home, in private. You let him clear his desk. You thank him, even if you do not mean it.

Nosy Tarsee’s source said none of that happened here. What he got was an economy seat, a locked office and a video link. The delegation, we hear, carried on with its Singapore schedule. The former secretary did not. No farewell, no turnover, no word from the top.

Those who know know, and those who sat on the plane home know best.