"I sincerely hope this never happens anywhere else."
“Public office is a public trust.” Public officials are bound by this constitutional principle, that at all times, we must serve with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty, and efficiency.
There are instances, however, when public service is challenged. There is a quandary here in Quezon Province where a number of members of our Provincial Council (Sangguniang Panlalawigan ng Quezon) have yet to agree to pass the COVID-19 response budget more than a year into the pandemic.
With the threat of Delta and Lambda variants, and Delta being confirmed in Quezon, the provincial budget is life or death. Hospitals in the province are quickly reaching full-capacity levels, patients lining up and dying on the streets.
I have been calling the attention of the Sanggunian and requested several times that they pass the budget after complying with the required documents. They refuse to hear the matter.
I don’t want this but politics continues to prevail among the members up to this day. Personally, I consider this frustrating since, by and large, COVID-19 efforts should not mainly depend on national aid, but should be contingent on the local government.
The Department of Interior and Local Government has already expressed its opinion regarding the Sanggunian’s inaction. The DILG urged a swift response and cooperation among the local government officials on the passage of the said budget. Yet once more, this had no effect on them.
Is this an isolated case here in Quezon Province, or does this happen elsewhere in a number of provincial councils? I sincerely hope this never happens anywhere else. Because at this juncture, the lack of a provincial council’s support could derail and impede efforts to defuse the spread of COVID-19 and its economic effects in the area. This pains me as governor of Quezon since our pandemic response plans cannot be fully enacted amid the strictly imposed community quarantines.
Let me make this special request to the members of the Quezon Provincial Council to perform their mandate and secure a COVID-19 budget that will be more responsive to the needs of time. They should at least keep in mind the welfare of the people and the oath of duty they have sworn based on the Constitution. It is said, in life, there is a window of opportunity to do the right thing. There is still time.