How many people does it take to run City Hall?

Just a little reminder that come Saturday June 4th and Sunday June 5th is the 16th Divine Mercy Convention at the University of Cebu Maritime Education and Training Center. According to my dear friend, Bro. Stanley Villavicencio, the theme for this year’s affair is “Divine Mercy, Promoting and Defending the Gospel of Life.” I have attended the previous conventions and they are usually full-packed with devotees from all over the country.

 I didn’t realize that the Divine Mercy Convention is already on its 16th year and yes, we are one of the millions all over the world who believe in the message of our Lord Jesus Christ that was sent through his humble servant St. Faustina Kowalska that if only we prayed the Chaplet of the Divine Mercy we will not be judged for our sins, but receive the unfathomable Divine Mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ. So do your share in this special offer by our Lord Jesus Christ and join this divinely inspired convention this coming weekend.

* * *

 Is it really true that Mayor Michael Rama is already conducting a loyalty check this early as the headline of The FREEMAN blared last Tuesday or is this just paranoia of certain City Hall officials who just might get the axe for their incompetence? More often than not, those officials or employees who were appointed by the previous dispensation might just be sending the wrong signals to the media about this supposedly unfolding scenario.

 This is the problem in our beloved Cebu City when we already know that the previous Mayor, now Congressman Tomas Osmeña is already planning his comeback to the Office of the Mayor, because those people appointed by Tommy may just be dragging their feet to ensure that Mayor Rama would have a hard time in implementing his plans and programs. Mind you, if this is a loyalty check, then let me tell Mayor Mike that I am foursquare against it. But if he is weeding out the incompetents, that’s another story and I fully support the move to weed out those misfits.

 But before he even starts, perhaps Mayor Mike and his consultants ought to come up with the magic figure as to how many people does it take to run the City of Cebu efficiently? Only when they can arrive at this magic figure should they start the weeding out process. In my book, City Hall just has too many employees it doesn’t need. I knew it back then when I was the Chairman of the Cebu City Traffic Operations & Management (CITOM) and I’m sure that City Hall has the same number of employees sans those who already retired or passed away.

 Maybe Mayor Mike can also learn from the experiences from the private sector, which outsources jobs that can be outsourced. An example for instance are jobs in the Treasurer’s Office especially those in accounting, which can easily be outsourced or better give the people working in that department an early retirement program then give those who retired a five-year contract in an accounting company that the employees would now own. That way, the employees do not just retire, but they become owners of their own accounting firm.

 Another example perhaps would be outsourcing the garbage collection. This is already being done abroad and there is no question that private contractors are far more efficient in collecting the garbage than government employees. Don’t get me wrong; I am merely citing these as examples. It is really up to the team of Mayor Mike Rama to come up with a program to streamline City Hall.

 In another example from the private sector are the current labor problems that the Philippine Airlines (PAL) is facing… that they just have to retrench a big number of its employees for the company to survive. When PAL shutdown, it would have been over, but Lucio Tan revived PAL yet he kept some 7,000 employees, when he should have retained only 3,000. This is why PAL is having labor problems these days. So let’s hope Mayor Mike Rama will heed our advice to first find out how many people does he need to run City Hall efficiently? Only then can he start weeding out those employees who are unfit to serve their Cebuano constituents.

* * *

 The blackbox:

 My heartfelt condolences to the family of the late Justice Regalado Maambong who succumbed to cancer last Friday, especially to his son former Provincial Board member Victor Maambong. Justice Maambong was an exemplary Cebuano who made it to the top of the legal profession without having his name smeared in any controversy. We Cebuanos should be proud to have walked along with such a great man. May we request the pious reader to please pray for the repose of his soul.

* * *

Email: [email protected]