EDITORIAL - Playing the game

Mayor Michael Rama is inherently a good man. If his latest actions tend to suggest otherwise, it is only because he is slowly being eaten alive by the rotten system of political governance.

A good and decent man does not usually conduct loyalty checks. It is usually enough for him to be convinced of his own good intentions and leave the rest to God for good intentions to be rewarded according to His infinite wisdom.

But that is not how mundane endeavors work. Or at least things can get really bad first before they turn out good. And this is often what makes governance particularly challenging. The good intentions of one have to be challenged first by the devil.

Having cast aside his rose-tinted glasses, Rama is now forced to confront his demons, which come in the form of political obstacles. And that is good. For it will test his mettle and harden his resolve.

Any local government is a snake pit. To a very large extent, government bureaucracy is littered with political appointees who are not only incompetent but who serve only their political patrons and appointing powers.

On assuming office, Rama had been willing to share bed and board with these people, on the mistaken notion that loyalties may shift with a change in administration. Realizing the folly of that notion, he is now on the verge of kicking out the embedded traitors and parasites.

To that we can only say amen and good riddance. Rama did not ask to play dirty with these people. They asked for it and they got it. Rama cannot forever be the nice guy while many of those around him serve other masters at his and the Cebuano taxpayers’ expense.

With the exception of those whose tenures are protected by law, Rama should make his loyalty check as sweeping as possible and show no mercy in sacking those who have never really come around to accepting him and are plainly waiting for the winds of change to visit again.