Absentee officials

BEHIND THE SCENES
Alfred P. Dizon

Bangued of Abra should be put in the Guinness Book of World Records as having the most number of mayors, vice mayors and councilors of a province staying and doing business in a capital town.

Local officials in this strife-laden province have been warned by Interior and Local Government Secretary Jesse M. Robredo to report to their respective towns or else they would be administratively and criminally charged for abandonment of their respective duties.

“We talk soft but we walk with a big stick,” Robredo said in a recent meeting with Cordillera officials, adding he is fully aware of what is happening in the 313 barangays and 27 towns of Abra, thus, erring local officials must shape up or ship out.
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But that remains to be seen because it seems, even with the new administration, old habits die hard. Almost everybody knows in Abra that these officials stay in Bangued because they have private businesses there, are afraid of being assassinated in their towns or are just plain sick and tired of the monotony in their towns.

In Bangued where one can experience nightlife, depending on what one wants. And of course, it is in the town where these officials could keep a mistress or two or they could be killed by tsismis (gossip) in their towns.

This kind of lifestyle, we hear, is not limited to the men. Of course there are wayward lady politicians who are reportedly not happy with their partners or just want variation, so they come as far as Baguio to live the good life.

There is this lady vice mayor of an Abra town who is an addict of this nightspot in Baguio where there is live music and dancing. Almost every night, she is there with around five or six of her bodyguards who double as her drinking partners.

When she is tipsy, she calls a male singer she has a fancy for that night to her table and treats him like a king. The bodyguards of course discreetly transfer to another table leaving her to indulge. Where they go after that is nobody’s business, and that is another story lest we deviate.
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There are supposed to be laws against absentee or underperforming public officials like politicians. But then, in this Banana Republic, it seems laws are made to be broken.

Government workers report late or leave early with nary a hoot from their co-employees. The others connive with their peers to punch in their daily time records when they are out. Their “undertime” is still paid by the government.

In some if not most offices, workers are either selling something from bras to panties, engaging in idle talk or out. The irony is that there is a certain breed of these workers who justify their shenanigans by saying the government does not pay them enough.

It is not only in this blighted country where these government workers or officials practice their favorite hobby of “working” outside their offices.
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I have some Korean friends who reported to me that they had a hard time transacting business with the Philippine Embassy in Seoul because the officials there report only between 9 to 11 in the morning. These embassy officials reportedly also charge hefty fees for anything related to the Philippine government in terms of staying or having an education in our beloved Wow Philippines. Where the money goes is a matter of speculation.

These, considering that government workers are not required to work at least one third of the year in this blighted country due to numerous holidays.

I for one couldn’t understand why the birthday and death anniversaries of Dr. Jose Rizal, our national hero are holidays. Can’t one Rizal Day be enough for a year? We have a Muslim holiday that now, dubious religious sects are clamoring that holidays also be declared in their behalf.
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Why, even gay groups are pressing government they be recognized and a yearly holiday be celebrated in their behalf for showing that love is a many splendored thing with their “sparring” or “fencing partners.”

One of these days, I will petition the government to declare an Alfred P. Dizon holiday considering that I have to work almost every day of the week to earn a living. After all, everybody needs respite once in a while.

If they can’t accept that as a reason for declaring a holiday in my behalf, they can think of other alibis like our having the superhuman ability to endure all these shenanigans like corruption, pakitang tao or moro-moro in government.