Loyalty checks

EDITORIAL CARTOON

Loyalty checks abound with every change in the administration in the national and local government but they usually occur a year before the elections.

That’s not the case in Cebu City, where the Mahiga Creek dispute this summer deepened  the wedge between Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and Rep. Tomas Osmeña and his allies in the City Council.

Last Sunday’s fiesta supper at the Rama compound was suspected by some apprehensive barangay captains as a loyalty check similar to what the mayor  did when he told  City Hall employees last week they either support him or ship out.

But no such thing happened according to those who attended the feast. They drank, sang, swapped stories  and made merry.  The mayor was quick to dismiss talk of a nose count.  In fact, he  selected the ones  he invited, to make sure it was a friendly crowd.

He knows full well that he doesn’t have the clout commanded by Osmeña, who built the BO-PK machinery from the ground up.

Still, loyalty checks being what they are, it’s unusual that Mayor Rama would have to run one on City Hall employees and department officials.

Civil servants with tenure and career executives should be valued based on  performance, not the whims of those in power.

The same goes for people in the military, police and other essential personnel whose standing and security of tenure depends on the merits of their performance, not on public sentiment as with  elective officials who run for public office every three and six years.

In breaking away from the BO-PK, Rama knew what he was getting into and the bureaucracy that is Cebu City Hall may not prove resistant to whatever changes he has in mind.

But the mayor knows the political reality that is their loyalty to his predecessor who ruled the city for over a decade and has one foot in the  city’s door while serving in Congress.

It’s hard to imagine City Hall employees and department heads staging protest rallies or seeking his recall, so the loyalty check is superfluous.

Note that we mentioned City Hall and not barangay captains, whose tenure is dependent on the vagaries and mood of the voting public.

Barangay captains can ask for themselves whose side they are on, Tommy or Mike,  but even they realize that it’s too early to stick your neck out for the sake of allegiance alone.

Election 2013 is still two years off and access to aid and programs from City Hall needs pragmatic partnerships.

Nothing in the books stops Rama from conducting loyalty checks.

But he should be professional instead of vengeful in sifting through the employees and officials who can and do contribute good work for the progress of Cebu City.