Tapping Old Hands in Local Governance

Saturday, 19 June 2010 00:00

Written by Ma. Gladys Sta. Rita

Winning local candidates who are on their first term are teeming with excitement as they begin their term of office. And government agencies responsible for the smooth entry of new local executives into the local government foray are busy coming up with orientation programs for them. I already received a number of invitations to speak before newly-elected officials and their staff. A more recent invite is from the country’s premiere learning institution for public managers and government leaders—the Center for Local and Regional Governance of the National College of Public Administration and Governance (NCPAG) at the University of the Philippines, Diliman. Of course, I gladly acceded, thinking this would afford me no less than a front seat view of the new local government landscape taking shape amidst the controversy and protests in the LGU front involving a number of provinces and cities.

According to official figures, election-related protests after the May 10 polls are at record high: 95 cases filed at the Comelec from provinces and cities and 53 at the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal. These does not include hundreds of municipal election cases filed at the Regional Trial Courts. That, my friends, would definitely keep Comelec, the House, and local courts busy for years to come, and elected officials, on the guard for the unthinkable possibility of being unseated 2 months before the next elections. Well, that’s how it is in our country, many now have realized. PCOS or no PCOS.

The debates may continue. But for officials-elect, the show must go on. The fresh mandate begins on July, and the long, arduous campaign trail, left them with less than 60 days to physically and mentally prepare for the start of their 3-year reign.

As a local government manager for almost 2 decades, I’ve seen local executives come and go. Without a doubt, the first 100 days in office are the most trying. Without command of the right management tools, people skills and, yes, the tenets of political savvy, an elected local official’s term may not run as smoothly as he promised during the campaign.

Here’s where the right people to man the right places in local government, come in. The good news is newly-elected officials, from the national level to the LGUs are given the privilege of appointing their choice of people in strategic, co-terminus administrative positions. This, in many ways, gives the governor or mayor, especially first-termers a considerable leverage inrunning the bureaucracy, as discussed quite lengthily in my book.

Guaranteed by the Local Government Code of 1991, the local chief executive has the privilege of appointing his provincial/municipal or city administrator, his chief of staff, legal officer, and even his information officer.

In most cases, I encourage new local chief executives (LCEs) to consider working with his predecessor’s people first, before considering the total overhaul of his managerial organization. Why? For practical and professional reasons.

If we look at what’s happening to a typical local government when administrations change hands, we see the exodus of professional, competent people who could have made local governance and administration easier for the assuming new governor or mayor. In the same breadth, we see unqualified people taking hold of strategic career positions by virtue of their loyalty to the new chief.

As expected, new administrations would surely carry new priorities or at least, programs that either improve on or complement existing initiatives. The ugly side of the transition phase is that, professional public managers are either forced to resign, face undue scrutiny and investigation of transactions, or just plain strained relationship with the new boss or the new boss’s underlings. But, this does not take away the old manager’s merits: familiarity with development programs of the LGU, access to and influence on program stakeholders and players, and leadership.

This is why I always tell politician friends to take it easy with the “old hands” of the bureaucracy they are inheriting, because the old timers possess something, perhaps, as valuable and priceless as loyalty—that is the vast experience with the affairs of local government, often unique to the local bureaucracy.

Some may probably smirk at the idea. But, keeping these key people for a while would ensure that the rich knowledge database of governance is passed on. It also ensures that the learning curve of the new management will be considerably shortened, if the collective experience of existing career public managers is properly harnessed. And for all we know, new LCEs may find in some of these people the professionalism and competence he needs to govern well.

The key to maximizing this flexibility in reorganizing the bureaucracy is professionalism in dealing with skilled and experienced civil servants and the political will to draw the line between patronage politics and sound human resource policy. This is the commitment to hire, not only the most trusted, but also the most competent people.

The key to better governance is not only getting, but also keeping good people. And there are many of them, if our new governors and mayors would only take time to look.

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