Nothing new or better, much less best - III

First off, Congrats to Councilman Estan G. Sanchez, Jr. of Barangay Centro, Mandaue City who won handily as an independent. Councilman Jun has always been civic-minded despite not holding public office of late, but active with the Mandaue Singing Sons and other church activities and community affairs. Kudos as well to Subangdaku Barangay Captain Ernie Manatad, Mayor Jonas C. Cortes' long-time man-Friday. Both guys with such good credentials should have their wings groomed, not clipped.

In public governance, both domestic and national, especially focused on austerity or wise-spending, nothing worth bragging now is up there for keeps. Foremost is overspending. Even the 10 percent real property tax, LGU's share as built-in income that eventually merges with their internal revenue allotment (IRA) determines the LGU's annual fate.

And yet, LGUs more affluent than the limping average in income, have in effect bailed out the latter. Many public school teachers suckle their salaries and premiums for their retirement benefits, insurance, etc. from better-heeled LGUs whose SEF practically shoulder the national statutory obligation of all basic teaching force, forcefully assume such gargantuan task. Hence, the COA often admonishes these LGUs not to spend their SEFs on "less necessary" purposes, as athletic meets, useless travels, purchases of exercise workbooks, etc. and whatever "excuses" just to deplete the SEF.

Also often abused are cash advances (CA), more rampant in obtaining than in liquidating them. Unscrupulous LGU executives, as well as accountants and treasurers, almost always resort to violations of CA rules and regulations than comply with them. Accountants are "often forced" to find ways to be non-compliant and treasurers stupidly pay the questionable vouchers in cavalier fashion. Anyway, his excuse is that the accounting office has passed them, implying foolishly that everything is okay as long as the accountant passed these illegal vouchers. Almost all LGUs, especially the affluent ones, are guilty of CA abuses.

On the administrative and/or investigative entities that are usually ad hoc in purpose and effectivity, but not less important, their ad hoc nature is mistreated for its being. One good example could be the then Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG). What has this accomplished so far? What ad hoc ends have similar ad hoc entities done over their "non-ad hoc" lifetime? Probably, all or many of them have remained as useless, and yet, have stayed at a snail-paced drag. How does the Truth Commission differ from PCGG?

With similar snail-paced tempo, the thousands of many pending cases with the Ombudsman, the Sandiganbayan, all courts of all levels up to the Supreme Court are crying for action for long. The stalemate in resolving them is literally monumental in effect. Should those cases be physically piled one on top of the other, the piled expediente of cases can make into many, many monuments of injustice, negligently undecided. Lying and waiting action could be true in all courts up to the Supreme Court, that now and then news items surface that so-and-so got final verdict after more than 10 years or so, with no "apologia" or "mea culpa".

And yet, it's frequently brandished with alacrity that famed Quezonian outburst: "Justice delayed is justice denied".

Overall, while earlier motherhood statements on cleaning and improving the system of governance that has gone beyond the "Augean Stable", and welcomed in awesome anticipation, so far, what has surfaced unexpectedly is that the first bachelor president is, after all, a "lover killer", more fickle than a woman. Before it's too late, what appears to be Malacañang-orchestrated ploy of portraying the president as just any other love-seeking Juan or Johnny and not loveless at heart, the drama might boomerang. It may turn him as a philandering Romeo who changes sweethearts as often as he changes his "briefs".

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