“To many, De Lemos should take the honorable way out of the scandal by resigning”
Women’s groups want National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) Director Medardo de Lemos to resign for a scandal that took place during an official conference of the NBI.
The conference was held at the plush Manila Diamond Hotel last June 30, attende by top NBI officials and key personnel. The entertainment consisted of a provocative dance performed by a nearly nude woman.
How the male members of the audience reacted was not reported by the media.
Anyway, when the scandal was reported by the media, De Lemos apologized for “any offense caused, particularly to women.”
Observers noted De Lemos seemed to dismiss the magnitude of the scandal when he asserted the dance number was just a part of a “fellowship” activity where regional and national officers of the NBI can “bond.”
The NBI chief added a formal investigation has been conducted on this incident.
De Lemos denied public funds were spent to finance the conference and the dance number. He said the expenses for the conference were covered through contributions from NBI officials and agents.
Gabriela Women’s partylist Representative Arlene Brosas, also the Assistant Minority Leader in the House of Representatives of Congress, said De Lemos’ apology is insufficient. She demanded an investigation and public accountability from the NBI.
For Brosas, the incident under De Lemos as NBI director condones “the explicit objectification of women most especially during an official function.” She added “it is a shame if the NBI would (sic) find a way out of the mess by mere apology.”
Brosas will file a resolution urging the House to investigate this scandal.
In sum, Brosas said the lewd activity is a violation by top NBI officials of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials.
It appears the controversial NBI conference took place when Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla of the Department of Justice was on medical leave for heart surgery.
When news of the NBI scandal came out, Remulla, who had returned to the office after his post-surgery recovery period, was visibly upset. He ordered the NBI, which is a bureau under the DOJ, to speed up the investigation promised by De Lemos.
Remulla has good reason to be upset. He had been working hard to maintain the public reputation of the DOJ and its bureaus, and this scandal has compromised the public image of a key bureau under the DOJ.
Analysts noted Remulla had just taken an emergency medical leave, and during this brief period he was on leave, the NBI under De Lemos created a scandal with sexual overtones, enough to get women’s organizations angry.
They noted that had Remulla been on leave for a longer period, who knows what other scandals may have taken place in the NBI under De Lemos.
Observers ask, since De Lemos must have been present at the conference in his capacity as NBI Director, why didn’t he stop the lewd dance number?
Also, if the scandal been kept from public knowledge, would De Lemos even bother to apologize for the incident?
Some concerned sectors argue that by acquiescing in the lewd activity, done in an official NBI event at that, and apologizing only after the media found out about it, De Lemos condoned it.
The same concerned sectors find that De Lemos’ excuse—that the expenses for the event were covered by contributions from NBI officials and agents—only magnifies the scandal.
They say that since the conference was an official activity of the NBI, it must have been paid with public funds.
Thus, they contend that taxpayers money was spent on an official NBI conference which featured a sexually provocative dance number for the entertainment fare.
They also stress that even if the scandalous dance number was paid for by contributions from NBI officials and agents, that does not erase the fact that the NBI under De Lemos, held an official activity with a nearly nude woman dancing in public as part of the paid entertainment.
Many women were just as offended by De Lemos’ narrative that the scandalous dance number was just a part of a “fellowship” activity where regional and national officers of the NBI can “bond.”
For them, De Lemos admits that regional and national officers of the NBI “bond” with each other while watching a nearly nude woman dancing to entertain NBI officials in an official bureau activity.
They maintain that if top NBI officials “bond” this way, and at government expense, the NBI has no moral high ground to be involved in the administration of justice.
It should stop using the word “integrity” in its official seal.
To many, De Lemos should take the honorable way out of the scandal by resigning.