Pam and Nestor should beware of sycophants

A sycophant is a wheeling-dealing power broker, or influence peddler who showers the boss with praises and tries very hard to please the boss in exchange for favors and positions of trust and confidence, contracts, appointments and promotions, salary increases, and travel opportunities.

Any and all leaderships, even if well-intentioned, and in good faith, can be sabotaged by trapos and opportunists posing as underlings and subalterns. Even Jesus was denied by Peter, sold by Judas, and abandoned by 11 of his 12 trusted men. Many kings and queens have been betrayed by their closest advisers. Many governors had been "sold" to the devil by their own provincial administrators. The same can happen to mayors.

Pama and Nestor suddenly had many "friends" after their election. These new allies are the ones who will most likely destroy them. There are many rich matrons who used to be the BFFs of the former governor but who are now hosting many of the parties of Pam for obvious reasons. They have interests to protect, a selfish agenda to push. They have contracts to be signed and they have businesses needing protection.

The same is true in the city government. There have been many close supporters of former city mayors Edgar Labella, Mike Rama, and Raymond Garcia. Many are still in City Hall. Others are doing business and supplying services or materials to the city government. Nestor should be careful with people most likely to taint his governance with shades of questionable decisions, transactions, contracts, and appointments.

The eventual downfall of Rama was from his alleged appointments of two brothers. Mike himself bewailed the fact that he was being persecuted for his love for his wife. He admitted it and I told him, as a friendly reminder, being his former Law professor. I also forewarned Mike for his very trusting character. I love Mike but I always remind him to be careful with the sycophants around him.

The case about some employees who were allegedly unlawfully transferred and who were not able to receive their salaries for a number of months should have been blamed on his subordinates. He was kept in the dark about it. But as a former excellent HR manager and brilliant labor lawyer and labor arbitrator, he should have exercised command responsibility or what we lawyers call "respondeat superior". I still believe Mike is a good man who was destroyed by his underlings. I blame his subalterns for his downfall. But I also fault him for being overly trusting. The same could be said of former mayor Raymond.

Governor Gwen was also destroyed by mayors who lulled her into thinking she was invincible. I don’t believe that she was cheated. The people have become sick and tired of her. I honestly think that the Cebuanos voted for Pam not because they love the new governor. She happens to be the only other option to the despised former incumbent. It wasn’t that the people loved Pam more. It was rather because the Cebuanos were so disillusioned with Gwen. Pam happened to be there as an alternative.

The bottom line is that both Pam and Nestor should learn from the mistakes of the officials they replaced. Pam should stop acting like her predecessors by spending too much effort on Tiktok and answering nasty critics who might have been planted by her detractors and political enemies. She should focus on the work to be done. She should talk less and do more. Let her achievements talk. She should stop finding faults and focus on putting in place the solutions.

Nestor shouldn’t delegate appointments to people he loves or trusts. She should assume sole and full responsibility. Nestor should always be polite and respectful of Tomas. Pam and Nestor should stop blaming their predecessors and focus on the work to be done. They should stop looking back. They should focus on the here and now and on the days to come. The people already know all the failures of their predecessors hence, they voted them out.

What matters most, Governor Pam and Mayor Nestor should be careful with their underlings and subalterns. They should also be careful with their own behavior. They might fall into the trap of doing precisely the very thing they bewailed and condemned. They are good but their subordinates might have the tendency or intent to destroy them, either for malice or by negligence, out of bad faith or by simple ineptitude or ignorance.