New mayors and governors, should show immediate results

Provincial and city executives were elected to deliver results, not to spend public resources and official time to file charges at each other. Let the Ombudsman do the charges, and let the governors and the mayors focus on their work.

Let the new Cebu provincial and city officials prove to Cebuanos, and to all and sundry, that they were right in voting them. These officials should focus on doing positive work instead of spending time digging up past officials' transactions and waste official time, effort, and government resources grave-digging for cases to file against those they have already defeated.

Why beat a dead dog? Vindictiveness will just generate retaliation, and thus propagate friction among public officials, instead of working as a team to deliver services to the people. Well, I have high hopes for Cebu City but sorry, I cannot say the same thing for the province. While there is peace in City Hall, there is tension in the Capitol between the governor and the vice.

Cebuanos want officials to work instead of bickering. What was the use of electing new LGU officials if we don’t see immediate and concrete results of changes? There are at least five changes that people want immediately: First, an urgent cleanup of the city or province.

Second, an immediate cleanup of the City Hall or the Capitol and all offices under them. Third, new attitude of frontline people in all service units, with a sense of urgency and an attitude of helpfulness and compassion. Fourth, discipline the dishonest, corrupt, discourteous, lazy, neglectful, and inept subordinates. Fifth, publish regularly the ongoing projects as well as their expenses and costs. Sixth, make services accessible to the public. Lastly, solve the traffic mess.

With due respect, I don’t agree entirely with the statement of the good governor, Gwen Garcia, that the governor has nothing to do with traffic in the cities. That is true only for independent chartered cities like Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, and soon, Mandaue.

It is not true for component cities like Talisay, Toledo, Carcar, Naga, Danao, and Bogo. The governor is also responsible for the traffic of municipalities by way of command responsibility on top of the mayors. And the mayors of independent cities like mayors Edgar Labella, Jonas Cortes, and Ahong Chan, should be held primarily liable for solving the traffic mess. And since traffic is an inter-town and inter-city problem, only the governor has the overall authority and responsibility to convene a multi-city and multi-town solution to this problem.

Cleaning the city and the province should be done with a sense of urgency. Our streets are dirty, there are garbage piles scattered around and no one is taking care of them. People do their private thing right along public highways and streets.

The cities smell very bad and there is human waste left uncollected right in the heart of the business center. There are many illegal structures and even public roads are being transformed into basketball courts. There are illegally parked vehicles, many of which are government-owned. Policemen are hiding under the shade while the traffic mess is hitting its worst state. Vendors are occupying the sidewalks and the policemen are not enforcing the law. The governor and the mayors must act immediately.

There are a myriad of problems right in front of the capitol and the city halls. Let these problems be solved now and with a sense of urgency. And let the cases, if there is evidence to warrant them, be filed by the DILG, the prosecutors, or the ombudsman.