ENFORCER, enabler, coach, mentor and coordinator of the local government units (LGUs) and national line agencies and units.
Without a clear and firm grasp of these functions, the local government operations officer (LGOO) will just do anything and end up anywhere and in the company of whoever.
This is important in view of the recent hurling of strong criticism by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia towards Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) for its alleged imposition of lots of works for LGUs causing huge work backlogs in their local functions.
Governor Garcia maybe right in some of her criticisms. But she is wrong in her gross charge that the DILG is only disrupting and delaying the LGUs’ works and services.
The reason why the DILG has been intensifying its program of strengthening the LGUs nationwide is due to the fact that most LGUs are like small kingdom of political clans and dynasties, acting not for people’s welfare but for their narrow vested interests.
It cannot watch idly the LGUs doing nothing except collect taxes, repair roads, deliver selective social services, sponsors in big local events, and use its resources and people as milking cow of their vested political interests.
So DILG’s first priority agenda since Sec. Año take the department’s helm is to prepare its own officials, personnel, especially the front line LGOOs to become all rounded in their 5-in-one functions.
Per data and studies commissioned by DILG, majority of LGOOs in both city and municipal levels are ineffective in ensuring that the LGUs as their principal client think and do right, well and good in their political and corporate roles, or specifically in terms of governance, assets building and development work.
In fact, the reason why LGUs have for decades been doing contrary to the national thrust and programs is the control of LGUs by the local powerful clans and dynasties, with utter disregard and disrespect to DILG LGOOs.
Worse, in not so few cases, they have succeeded in neutralizing the LGOOs by giving them office supplies support, transportation and communication support, and extra under the table payola.
In effect, the LGOOs can’t do anything to stop LGUs from committing malfeasance because they benefit from such system of LGUs.
Of course, it is a complex mix of factors that made most LGUs ineffective and corrupt, and not in few cases, hated by the people.
The only antidote to this is to reorient and repackage the LGOOs through the 5-in-one functional strategy.
They have to be enabler, able to equip the LGOOs with right tools of thinking and analysis, technology and applications, so they can transfer them to the LGUs they direct and supervise.
They have to be firm and principled enforcer of national laws and department’s orders and memoranda, without fear and favor. If necessary, cause the amendments to the same to become better instruments of laws.
They have to become coach and mentor to LGUs to guide them towards mastery of their functions and become effective and efficient in their work.
They have to assume the primos interpares, or the first among equals principle, in order to orchestrate the programs and services of various line agencies and units in order to avoid duplications, gaps and overlaps, and ensure the attainment of maximum social impact in their services.
Not the least, they have to become dynamic and creative enforcer of discipline and values, providing penalties for the violators.
The common public perception on LGOOs until now is that they are the lapdogs of the local chief executives (LCEs), the enforcer, cover up and justifier of the wrongdoings of the LCEs.
Sec. Ano has answered this by reshuffling the LGOOs so they won’t suffer being politically cultured or politicized by the Local Chief Executives.
The LGOOs have to be reformed, rehabilitated at worse, so that wherever they go, they become assets, not liability, of enhancing good governance.
The LGOOs is the face of the government on the ground. Whatever people say of them, reflects the kind of national government we have.