Tweet twit given free pass for gaffe by the No-Consequences Administration

President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III is fast becoming the leader of a no-consequences administration. One can drop the ball and cause unspeakable tragedies and gaffes that turn the entire nation into a laughing stock and still get away scott free. The latest gaffe that turns up the laughs on the already butt-of-jokes nation that is the Philippines is a Twitter post from Aquino speech writer Carmen Mislang who described in her post how the wine served to her at a dinner hosted by Vietnam officials "sucks". And yet the pa-cool culprit in an otherwise fireable offense gets a free pass...

Communications Group Secretary Ricky Carandang on Friday came to Mislang’s defense and said the issue about her Twitter messages about Vietnam was a minor one, and a closed book.

Carandang said Mislang, who has since deleted the messages, meant no offense and was apologetic. She had been told to be more circumspect about what she would post on her Twitter account.

Carandang also said Mislang’s tweets were “pretty harmless,” although they might be also “potentially embarrassing.”

"Potentially embarrassing", perhaps. But the scale of the embarrassment is what is the issue here. It is on a national scale that the actions of people representing the Philippines abroad impact. That is something that Secretary Carandang should consider before coddling another erring official in his already heavily gaffe-tainted department.