Mayor Mike Rama's arguments for local autonomy

Last week's hullabaloo about wearing masks highlighted the perennial tug-of-war between central government's inability to let go of their control and domination over the local government's authority to decide for themselves on matters of governance based on facts on the ground. Local officials like Mayor Mike Rama of Cebu, just like Governor Gwen Garcia, not too long ago, are brave executives who dared to stand up and assert their autonomy. And these guys are winning over autocratic and power-fixated bureaucrats in their ivory towers.

National officials, like DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire are examples of Imperial Manila bureaucrats who are fixated to control not only power and authority but also budget. The way I look at it, autonomy is winning over highly-centralized public administration. The people on the ground are sick and tired of dictators from headquarters who want to control simple decision making. These guys want to have a final say even on such simple matters as buying a stapler.

The people in Manila don’t accept the Mandanas and Garcia rulings where the Supreme Court itself, the highest judicial authority of the land, ordered the central government to let go not only of powers to decide but also budget and financial management. The people in the national government cannot accept the emerging reality that in a democracy decision making is decentralized and fiscal resources are downloaded.

The DOH official had the temerity to say that the city mayor should consult the DOH secretary and her underlings who are all defenders of centralized decision making. She got an immediate rebuff that it should be DOH and their ivory tower bureaucrats who should start descending from their almighty offices in Manila and go down to the outlying areas, see for themselves the realities on the ground before they open their mouths.

The problem with central government officials is precisely their inability to accept local autonomy as the global reality and emerging trend of the times. People who understand this tug-of-war between head offices and LGUs immediately understand that it is better for the constituencies that decision making should be done at the levels of mayors and governors rather than in the Cabinet.

The greatest mistake of the Duterte government was the creation of the IATF, the main culprit of the economic downfall of our country. That huge paper tiger, dominated by retired generals who have outlived their usefulness, unwittingly misled the president and caused the declaration of too many lockdowns that killed small- and medium-scale enterprises. Hundreds of thousands of jobs were lost, millions of man hours squandered. The economy was paralyzed. The Philippines ultimately earned the record of being the worst-performing economy at the height of the pandemic. The IATF was an additional layer in decision-making that delayed actions and hindered local governments from pushing the economy forward. Now, the DOH wants to repeat the same monumental blunder.

Cebu is blessed by the Sto. Niño and St. Pedro Calungsod as well as the future saint, Teofilo Camomot. We are blessed that we have a governor whom I call the dragon lady from Dumanjug and Barili, and a city mayor whom I call the new Don Quixote dela Mancha. The two fighters for local autonomy are like that fabled Don Quixote who dared to fight the windmills of ivory tower bureaucrats. The people in Manila should be reminded that the first advocate for local autonomy was Lapu-Lapu. The chieftain from Mactan even refused to yield to the domination of Rajah Humabon and he immediately neutralized (the police and military term for killing) the foreign invader. Manila may dominate other provinces but they should be careful with Cebu and Mindanao. The author of the Local Government Code was Nene Pimentel.

To me, one of the strongest fighters for local autonomy was the late chairman of this newspaper, Sir Dodong Gullas. Of all the congressmen from Cebu, he was the one and the only solon who silently and without fanfare succeeded in decentralizing the payroll for public school teachers. Before Sir Dodong, all paychecks for the poor teachers would emanate from Imperial Manila. He passed the law decentralizing the DepEd payroll. These are the kinds of leaders we need, not power-tripping autocrats who believe wisdom resides only in Manila. These bureaucrats should open their eyes. This isn’t 1521, 1898, or 1972. This 2022. If they cannot shape up, they better ship out. Kudos to Mayor Mike, Governor Gwen, and prayers for Sir Dodong. Let's support local autonomy. It is true democracy in action.