Editorial

Undue deference

The press secretary has come to the rescue of Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Fe Barin, who has admitted that her agency has done a poor job at regulating pre-need companies and failed to detect, much less stop, erring ones.

?We should be fair to her,? said Secretary Cerge Remonde, as though Barin could not defend herself against calls for her resignation. Remonde added that the commission did not have enough powers under the law to act on the pre-need mess, in the first place.

In a Senate hearing, Barin said her agency lacked teeth and was grossly understaffed. She also said that the interest of plan holders needed to be balanced with the concerns of capital formation.

But maybe Barin needs to be reminded that nobody is out to deliberately discourage capital formation, so long as business is done without anybody being cheated. And that her office, first and foremost, is a public one.

Barin?s statements during the meeting apparently ?saddened? some senators?and they are being kind. Pre-need plan holder or not, the public is more than sad at how the agency?s chairman is getting off the hook so easily. Remonde is trying to be gallant, and unduly so, when he asks the rest of us to ?give her [Barin] a chance.?

The fact is that she?s had her chance. She did not assume her post yesterday. A more effective and pro-active agency head would not have been content with what she had?be it powers under the law or the number of employees?if she felt it would seriously compromise her performance. Barin should have sounded the alarm long ago, in anticipation of what could go wrong. She could have asked lawmakers to amend the commission?s charter. She could have requested for additional manpower.

Now that some things have gone wrong, it is lame to be bringing all these up.

Our senators, for their part, should not capitalize on these woes to project themselves as champions of public interest. They should not be distracted by the nation?s fascination with this latest controversy. Now that serious gaps in the law have been exposed; it is time to let the phrase ?in aid of legislation? mean just that.