Memo to the new public officials

As a genuine Cebuano, I have a special message to Governor Pam Baricuatro, Mayor Nestor Archival, Mayor Jonkie Ouano and all the newly-elected public officials in Cebu and in the whole country. You do not know me from Adam but I do know you and I am watching you every day.

I have small birdies in your respective offices who are reporting to me daily. I have people in your treasurer's office. I will know the movements of public funds. I have operatives in your legal offices. I will know the movements of documents. I have spies in all your critical departments, including those involved in licenses and permits, I will know the businesses that are favored and those which are made to suffer. I have people in all the nooks and crannies, even the janitors and the guards.

I am a taxpayer, a member of the civil society and the print media, and I feel it is my duty to be vigilant and watchful. My first unsolicited advice is:  Always remember that you are not king, monarch or ruler. You are public servants. You rose to your positions by the grace of God and by the mandate of the voters. You do not own the Senate, the House, the capitol or the city hall. You are only a transient occupant.

Now that you have taken your oath and have assumed office, start working. Stop talking about the last elections. Focus on the next three years. Put your plan of action in place. Choose your people well and do not dismiss career personnel who are civil service eligible even if they used to be the underlings of your political rivals. Be magnanimous in your victory and do not be vengeful and oppressive.

Behave with fairness and remain humble or the people who put you there shall also be the ones to remove you in the same manner that your opponents had been removed. Do not spend time persecuting your political enemies. Do your best to promote reconciliation and work for harmony, peace and unity among the people. Look forward and set animosity behind.

First of all, engage the services of an independent auditor to conduct an honest-to-goodness financial and performance audit of all the financial and operational records of the office and start clean. Put a dividing line between the records of your predecessor and your own. Inventory all personnel and review the organizational structure and the manpower complement. Put the right person in the right position.

Enrich the job content of all personnel, review each employee's Key Results Areas and Key Performance Indicators. Reshuffle, rotate and transfer officials and personnel based on a professional manpower review and manpower planning. Also, inventory all properties, real and personal, including pieces of land, vehicles, equipment, tools and machineries. Inventory all records and documents and start digitizing.

Establish priorities, whether it is healthcare, poverty alleviation, education, welfare, food production and environmental protection, disaster preparedness, peace and order. Appoint a point person to oversee each of the Key Results Area and demand a regular, speedy and accurate report from said point person. Create a mobile action team to respond to emergencies and rescue people in urgent need for help and assistance.

Plan your days, weeks, months and years. Outline strategic moves and separate them from tactical actions. Create a performance audit team to monitor and track your performance on a weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual basis. Demand an honest and accurate, timely and regular report system to track your performance and report to your constituencies true figures, not bloated statistics.

Always be open to the mass media and be accessible to the print and broadcast media people. Although you have a PR person, be the one in front and talk to the people honestly and candidly. Do not sugarcoat your language. Be frank and be straightforward. Do not propagandize your programs and projects. Never hide any crucial fact nor mislead the people of your true intentions.

Stop behaving as if you are still a candidate trying to impress people. Do your work and explain if some are affected by your decisions. If you need to make hard decisions that can hurt a few for the benefit of the many, do not hesitate to do it. But try to mitigate the damage and help those who are adversely impacted. Do not be cruel, do not be antagonistic or offensive. Be humane even in difficult times.

If you need to fire people, do it only after due-process. Hear before you condemn, and do not rely on intrigues, rumors or the whispers of influence-peddlers. Do not put all your confidence in your close advisers. These people have their own selfish agenda. They can betray you if they do not get what they are demanding from you. Be wary about Judases in your midst.

But if you do your job honestly and with sincerity, you have nothing to fear. I shall report your best shots as well as your failures and I shall try my best to give you all the privileges of freshmen officials. The privilege of doubt, the presumption of regularity and the expectation that as good officials, you will remain faithful to your oaths of office and loyal to the people who elected you.

Do not be afraid of criticism. You are servants of the people and we, the hoi polloi, have the perfect right to expect that you shall not betray our trust. We will pray for you and wish you all the opportunities for success.