With the age of digital communication, local government units (LGUs) have become empowered to take hold of their narrative and release information on their terms.
While this allows for streamlined and accurate information dissemination to the public, this also created a new trend among local chief executives to gag the mouths of their appointed officials, banning them from speaking to representatives of the public without their permission.
It has been widely known that some LGUs in Cebu have made it a practice that only the chief executive can comment on issues and their appointed officials can only speak to the media with their permission.
The Cebu City administrator, lawyer Collin Rosell, released on April 25, 2023, a memorandum for officials stating that department heads, assistant department heads, and heads of offices with executive and enforcement functions in Cebu City were mandated to “notify the Office of the Mayor and seek its direction before attending and responding to any and all invitations, sessions, media appearances and making any declarations.”
While from a public relations (PR) perspective this is the perfect control of the city’s image, this also reduces transparency for the public. The media is no longer able to easily access the experts of the government who have the data and analytical expertise to inform the public.
As a communication practitioner, this new PR trend in government institutions tells me one thing: Chief executives don’t trust their own appointed people. They don’t trust that these officials can speak for their administration and relay the necessary information to the public that should fit their agenda, whatever it may be.
It also begs the question of what information the government is trying to hide from the public.
It is ironic because these positions are of trust and confidence. Appointed officials are placed in their positions because they are experts in those different fields and are highly capable of managing the department or division.
So why is it necessary to stop these officials from speaking to the public about what they are experts about?
In a SunStar Cebu article entitled “Cebu 40 Under 40: Meet the new breed of game changers in Cebu (Public Service & Philanthropy), Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas Jr. said the city government is not one man, but an entire team.
This team includes his officials, public servants, and employees under the City Hall, cascading down to the barangays.
Essentially, the mayor is not the sole expert of the city and his appointed officials are there to expertly serve the public in their respective departments.
Isn’t this how other LGUs are run? Officials are appointed by the mayor because they can provide the mayor with the necessary information to make properly informed decisions for the best of the city constituents.
Shouldn’t it already be assumed that these appointed officials are constantly in contact with the mayor about how the city is run? Why then is it necessary to issue orders stopping these officials from speaking to the public without their permission?
If the mayor can’t trust an official to speak for himself or herself, then shouldn’t that appointed official not be in that position in the first place?
Gag orders are simply a sign of distrust. Perhaps Cebu City should rethink who they are placing in position if they can’t trust them in the first place.