EDITORIAL - Leadership needs toughness

Cebu Governor Junjun Davide may have had the best intentions in slashing the provincial government's request for national government funding to rehabilitate areas devastated by super typhoon Yolanda in Cebu last November 8.

In slashing the budget request by more than half, from P27 billion to just P10 billion, Davide said he found the original amount to be unrealistically huge. Besides, he added, there have been other entities, from foreign governments to private organizations, who have pitched in to help.

The best intentions, however, cannot hide the fact that Davide is being unrealistically naive. It should not have been up to him to slash the proposal. If at all, any slashing that might be done ought to have come from the prospective source of the fund itself, meaning the national government.

If the national government, through the president or whoever is in charge of the rehab fund, found the requested funding unrealistically huge, then it is pretty certain that entity will lose no time in initiating any slashing to be done.

Look at it this way -- if you ask for a hundred from your dad and he slashes it in half, you will only get fifty. But if you really wanted a hundred, then ask for two hundred. If your dad slashes it in half, you'll still get your hundred. If he gives two hundred then return the extra. That's how it works in the real world.

But since Davide is now only asking for P10 billion, what would happen if the president has a bad day and slashes it in half? That would mean Davide will only get P5 billion, probably way too short of what the rehabilitation actually needs.

So what is the governor to do? Would he now resort to scrounging around for extra funds, or worse, go begging the foreign governments and other private entities for more aid? That would place everything in a very difficult situation.

The national government, more than anybody else, is obliged and duty-bound to look after its needy constituents. Davide cannot play nice in a situation that calls for tough decisions and drastic measures. We cannot leave the real and pressing needs of people at the mercy of foreign sympathy and private assistance.