Back to work

Published by the Visayan Daily Star Publications, Inc.

NINFA R. LEONARDIA Editor-in-Chief & President

CARLA P. GOMEZ Editor GUILLERMO TEJIDA III Desk Editor NANETTE L. GUADALQUIVER Busines Editor CEDELF P. TUPAS Sports Editor (On Leave) RENE GENOVE Bureau Chief, Dumaguete MAJA P. DELY Advertising Coordinator

CARLOS ANTONIO L. LEONARDIA Administrative Officer

The irony of elections is that the campaign period is the time when our candidates and prospective leaders work the hardest.

It is when they actually take the time to visit every nook and cranny of the areas they wish to be responsible for, the time when they actually go out to hold consultations and interact with their constituents, the time that they allow themselves to bake under the scorching summer sun as they woo the people's votes.

Most of them actually think that after being proclaimed winners, the hard work is over and it is time to sit back, relax and enjoy the fruits of their labor while recouping the costs incurred by a costly campaign.

After seeing most of our new set of local leaders being proclaimed by the Comelec, it is time for us, the real masters of these so-called public servants, to remind them of what they have gotten themselves into.

They were not elected into power to simply sit pretty and look busy while enriching themselves and their cronies, or to impede progress just because they cannot work with their counterparts who come from the opposing party. Legislators have to craft laws and represent the will and interests of the people.

Those with pork barrels have to use it judiciously and with utmost transparency. People elected into executive positions have to understand that their jobs require 24/7 attention as they manage the resources of the cities or provinces under their care while steering those areas into progress and prosperity. The word public servant denotes humility and service.

We can only hope that our newly elected public officials do not forget their place in society. If they can even just give 50 percent of the efforts they exerted during the two-month campaign period to the next three years of their term, we may actually have something to look forward to. The campaign is over, it's time for the bickering and petty quarrels to stop, for the winners to buckle down, start making good on their promises, and get started with the real work of improving Filipino lives.*