Friday, September 12, 2008 Editorial: Trouble over governance
REPORTS of divisive governance over a number of local government units (LGUs) in Cebu and elsewhere in the Visayas tell of debilitating events in the administrative operation of the said LGUs.
Not only is the smooth delivery of public services affected, the effective implementation of government programs is slowed down.
The culprit here is, of course, politics.
Foremost of these circumstances is right in our doorstep.
Consider the reports about the worrisome relationship between the Mandaue City mayor and the City Council.
It seems there is urgent need for warmer relations by the two entities involved in the city’s management.
Charges and counter-charges form regular features in local government units where the mayor and the Council are unable to come to terms with their respective political objectives and collective vision.
Thus, in Mandaue City, as it is in Iloilo province, the issue has grown worse.
Divided state
In Iloilo, the governor and four other provincial executives are facing several cases for mismanaging the affairs of the province.
In similar fashion, the Council has asked the ombudsman to look into the mayor’s hiring of his relatives for the different positions in the city government and paid for by the city.
Whether it is true or not, the “divided state” exists.
The roots of the problem lie in the inability of the officials, who were elected to their positions via the support of different political groups, to come to terms with such political reality.
Consequently, they are unable to find a common ground to work in, for the collective interest of the town, city, or province.
Try as they must to work together, they are unable to because of the respective political imperatives they must realize.
Hindrance
This scenario may be a healthy feature of democracy, portraying as it does a dynamic working of grassroots democracy.
But it can be an exacerbating hindrance to development and progress.
When every move proposed or taken by either of the competing camps is blocked or opposed by the other, the end result would be utter social and political paralysis in the delivery of public services to the inhabitants.
This is an administrative debility that sadly obtains, too, in Tudela and Daanbantayan, although in entirely different circumstances.
Still, their inhabitants deserve better politics and governance, not our pity.
