HOTSPOT

By TONYO CRUZ

The besieged chair of the National Youth Commission had it coming.

As one politician notes, the furor he caused revealed his utter lack of qualification for the office he was appointed to.

NYC chair Ronald Cardema’s official profile reveals as much.

Cardema’s most interesting claim to fame, for instance, could be winning a national Quiz Bee where he bested 76 participants. Yes, folks, he included that in his official profile.

But seriously, Cardema’s official profile could be summarized as follows:

High School Corps Commander of Maquiling School in Los Baños, Laguna; ROTC Class President in the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB) ROTC Unit; UP Centennial ROTC Corps Commander in the University of the Philippines Diliman; and Supreme Commander (President) of the UP Vanguard Fraternity.

Cardema also claims to have been a “political affairs officer in the House of Representatives,” without specifying which particular representative office. Also “political consultant to 17 members of the Philippine Congress,” again without mentioning their names. (The Bureau of Internal Revenue should check the taxes he paid, and the lawmakers too if he helped rivals at the same time.)

Cardema said he was a “consultant” in both the National Security Council and the Office of the President. In what specific capacities, and who contracted his services, we do not know. On what basis he was recruited as consultant, we also have to ask the NSC and the OP.

Perhaps Cardema’s most noteworthy qualification that landed him this plum post as NYC chair, with a rank of assistant secretary, is this: National Chair of Duterte Youth, and Secretary-General for Luzon of a certain “Tapang & Malasakit Alliance.”

Cardema also said that he is a Philippine Army reservist.

That’s it. It is a thin, lackluster resume. But that’s the summary of his profile, which for sure any younger person could beat in terms of personal and career achievements. As you may have noticed, Cardema didn’t even mention his educational qualifications like any degrees earned or honors received, if any.

Neither did Cardema mention that he was actually a cadet of the Philippine Military Academy. Why he was discharged from the PMA, let’s leave it to him or the PMA to disclose. He should disclose it, in the interest of the public he is sworn to serve and from whose tax money he gets his salary and allowances as assistant secretary.

What kind of message does President Duterte send to young people and the nation by appointing and keeping Cardema as NYC chair? Is Cardema the “best and brightest” he could find in the ranks of his supporters that could be tapped for the NYC post? It is truly disappointing, and a gross disservice to the public who expect — and deserve — nothing less than excellence from government.

There can be no better proof of Cardema’s utter lack of qualification for public office than his recommendation to President Duterte that state scholarships be removed from and denied to student rallyists, activists, and those he sees as supporters or members of the CPP-NPA-NDF.

The recommendation violates rights to due process, equal protection, free speech, free association, and — of course — education. He sees education as nothing more than a gift to be whimsically dispensed by his benevolent principal. He couldn’t be more wrong. Administration officials, senators, congressmen, student organizations and the media have all rightly denounced and rejected his suggestion.

Cardema has tried to control the damage by saying he only wants to boot out those who have joined the CPP-NPA-NDF. But it is downright stupid to expect rebels to be enrolled in state colleges and universities. It is simply impossible. As we could glean from the Philippine Revolution Web Central, rebellion is a full-time career path, so to speak. They have no time to study in any of our SUCs. Heck, the rebels set up their own schools in guerrilla fronts and rebel territories, in response to the demand of their base and with funding from revolutionary taxation.

Cardema is actually targeting — without evidence and due process as to the claims that they are communist or communist-influenced — certain youth and student organizations and alliances. These are entirely operating above-ground and often duly-accredited by the schools and the government. Perhaps included in Cardema’s list are student councils and student publications, and judging from his last Senate appearance, even the duly-elected youth partylist representation in Congress

Cardema’s problem is that these same organizations and alliances are popular among the youth. They form the backbone of the youth protests against tyranny. He is insulting students who have joined the protests by implying that they have been had by the communists, that they cannot think for themselves, and that mere association with Reds who happen to be their friends and leaders is an offense.

By tagging these student organizations and alliances as enemies of Duterte, Cardema only raises their prestige in the eyes of students and young people sick and tired of corruption, cruelty, brutality, and rising tyranny.

For between Duterte Youth and Anakbayan, chances are any independent-minded, critical, and civic-minded Filipino would side with Anakbayan. Between an expelled PMA cadet-turned-partisan bureaucrat and the first UP Visayas summa cum laude, our people would trust the “iskolar ng bayan” who graduated with honors and immediately joined the mass movement.

While many agree that Cardema should resign, there’s no indication he has any shred of delicadeza to make him do so.

Meanwhile, the more he opens his mouth and the longer he stays on at the NYC, the more he pushes students and young Filipinos to rallies and to activism. He has become yet another negative example on student leadership. He has ironically become a most effective recruiter for the very same student movement he seeks to destroy.

I could just imagine Anakbayan releasing a recruitment poster: “Reject Duterte and Cardema. Embrace the movement.”