How to make use of Mike Rama and Jun-Jun Davide?

It has been said, perhaps with some measure of truth, that idleness is the devil’s workshop. Mayors who make their vice mayors idle by taking away their functions are only courting trouble. Governors too afraid of their vice governors that they gag them even in council deliberations, are sowing the seeds of a loss/loss proposition. It’s also an indubitable evidence of cowardice, even immaturity, or childishness.

If a mayor persists in following his advisers' formula to isolate the vice mayor, the city or the town should brace itself for friction, conflict, collision, and bickering, all of which would result to deterioration of public service. The vice mayor, with his loyal partymates, can obstruct local legislation, filibuster and derail programs and projects. At the end of the day, both will lose. The mayor will appear to be an insecure local executive fearful for his political survival, and the vice mayor would gain the unsavory image of being an obstructionist, a destroyer of good governance in the guise of conscientious fiscalizing.

If I were to advise Mayor Edgar Labella, I would suggest that he uses the great talents of Mike Rama in human resources and Labor laws. I would assign him to improve city governance by human resource interventions, strategic recruitment of talents not based only on the traditional politics of patronage. The city government should bring in talents untarnished by political bias but those who shall bring in expertise that can make our city the best in public service. Mike was an outstanding HR manager. He is an excellent Labor law expert who can help the business and industrial sectors promote productivity, quality, and harmony in the workplace.

If Governor Gwen would only listen to advice untainted by political color, she could avail of the talents of Junjun Davide in law and the Local Government Code. She could assign him to train mayors and vice mayors, councilors, and even barangay officials, on how to make local governments more effective. She shouldn’t worry if Davide undermines her. She should assign her most trusted ally to shadow him. But she should give Davide a clear and measurable set of goals. This could even be the start of teamwork that could only redound to improvement of public services.

But it takes a really self-confident city mayor and governor to rise above petty political biases and think of the bigger picture. It takes a brave and daring local executive to tell the advisers and “tso tso” boys to step aside, and let the mayor and the vice mayor become a real team, also to allow the governor and the vice governor to work together. After all, the city and province of Cebu electorates didn’t elect them to stage perennial bickering or hit each other always. They were elected to deliver public service, to serve the people and address problems at hand. They should focus on positive things and be mature enough to set aside emotions and biases. Alas, we don’t have governors anymore in the mold of Don Sergio, Dionisio Jakosalem, Osmundo Rama, Pabling Garcia, and Eddie Gullas. No more mayors like Serging, Yoyong Borres, Ronald Duterte, and Dodong Solon.

If Rama remains isolated from the mainstream of City Hall governance, and if Davide remains gagged in the Provincial Board, the people of the city and the province of Cebu shall end up being the ultimate losers. All because they put into power chief executives who know not how to be humble. Pride is a capital sin whether in the City Hall or in the Capitol. And pride is a virus that kills excellence, a cancer that destroys the inherent goodness of man.