Mariela's father is seen as an example of corruption, but he remains a sympathetic character, why?

Mariela’s father, although a dishonest politician, is rendered sympathetically in the story, The Tourists. Not only does he care about Mariela and her personal life, he also reveals his desire to leave his own party and hide in the kitchen, where it is “secret” and “safe”. In this way, Pachico again complicates the binary between appearance and reality, for although Mariela’s father appears to be, and in some way is, simply a crook, he is also a caring father.