Time to act
ELECTIVE officials, particularly those no longer qualified to seek reelection, are being called upon to act now – and fast – since they have only seven months left in the government service.
Except for 12 members of the Senate, the term of office of all elective government officials, from President Rodrigo R. Duterte down to city and town councilors, ends at 12 noon on June 30, 2022.
Those seeking a fresh mandate from the electorate in next year’s polls have to convince the country’s 62 million registered voters that they deserve to stay in the service for another three or six years.
That’s why the people expect these government officials “na magpakitang gilas sa nalalabing pitong buwan nila sa puwesto kahit na alam nilang sukang-suka na ang tao sa mga pinaggagawa nila.”
But what is really significant here is that the people are now fed up with the antics of many local government officials, particularly those in far-flung communities across the Philippines.
These public servants ought to start inching down the same trail of good governance that they followed during their first few months in the government service.
This is an opportune time for them to show their supposedly “genuine concern” for the health, safety and welfare of their constituents as the COVID-19 pandemic continues to rage.
To fail to show “mercy” to the unfortunate members of society, notably to the poorest of the poor, might provide the firmest basis yet for the people not to vote for them on “Judgment Day.”
Those seeking public office in the upcoming national and local elections ought to understand why more and more Filipinos now want “action men and women” in the bureaucracy.
