Cast in an unflattering light

VIA THE GMANews.tv website, I chanced upon the latest online i-Report of the PCIJ, which casts outgoing Bulacan Gov. Josefina "Josie" de la Cruz in an unflattering light.

The blurb says it all:

Now in her ninth straight year as Bulacan governor, Josefina "Josie" de la Cruz, for many observers, remains one of the few reformists among local chief executives. Others say, however, that she had succumbed to traditional politics.

The tipping point, the report said, came after she made the following announcement two days before her 49th birthday:

"That's why I'm very excited about this," said Bulacan Governor Josefina 'Josie' de la Cruz. She paused briefly. Then it came: "But then my term ends May 30. So the truth is, to ensure that all I have worked for will not go to waste, I have allowed my brother, I have requested him, to follow me and vie for the post of governor."

Governor Josie's current travails illustrate a paradox in governance: the straight do-gooders are measured differently, in fact at a higher bar, than regular guys. The public does not suffer the former's mistakes gladly, unlike the latter's sins which they seem to have already discounted.