Domogan joins briefing of mayor-elect Magalong

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY – During the campaign period before the May 13 polls, a mayoral candidate of this summer capital was asked in a media forum at the Baguio Country Club: If you are disqualified from running, who would you endorse to run for mayor?

This candidate, a lawyer answered: Well, it could be Leandro Yangot as he had been a councilor for quite sometime or Ed Bilog, since he is stepping out as vice mayor. But I will not endorse an OJT (on the job training) candidate.

There was silence. People were squirming in their seats. The “OJT” just shook his head (nagwingiwing).

***

People who attended the forum said what this candidate, a former appointed legislative official during the Ramos administration uttered was out of bounds in tradition of Baguio politics wherein candidates don’t belittle others in a personal manner during electoral campaigns.

Anyhow, the “OJT” emerged as mayor by a wide margin over his rivals. The lawyer-candidate only got a parcel of the votes. Moral of the story: Never demean people.

***

The gentleman that he is, mayor-elect Benjamin Magalong, a “Baguio boy” never talked about the incident or lashed back at his accuser.

A bemedalled police officer, Magalong graduated from the Philippine Military Academy, rose from the ranks and held different positions in the Philippine National Police like regional police chief of Cordillera.

I met him as a newsman when he was still the Cordillera regional police operations chief some 18 years ago. When he got out as regional police chief and later headed the Criminal Investigation Detection Group, I haven’t seen him since then until I met him during the wake of former councilor-newsman Nars Padilla at city hall just before the elections.

***

Despite pressure from Malacanang during the Aquino administration for him to change the report of the panel which investigated the Mamasapano massacre, he didn’t and that may have cost him the post as PNP director general.

Baguio folks may have remembered what he did for not backing down from the hotshots at Malacanang and looked at him as a man of principle – main reason why he won by a landslide. 

As former PNP operations chief who plans, executes and concludes missions, people said Magalong, as a results-oriented officer, can do an efficient job as city mayor.

For one, he had been cited for putting a stop to the bloody and violent politics of Abra during his term as Cordillera police chief. 

Even before and after the campaign, Magalong had reportedly been doing the rounds in barangays to listen to folks’ concerns and formulate solutions.

As a member of the media said during the BCC forum: OJT he isn’t. As starters, reports have it that the mayor-elect will infuse scientific methods in solving problems of the city like heavy traffic.

***

Anyway, department heads under the city government and the mayor-elect with his staff sat down on Tuesday for a one-day briefing to assure smooth transition of administration, a PNA report said.

“Department of the Interior and Local Government Memorandum Circular 2019-39 mandates the local chief executive to prepare for an effective turnover of responsibility to assure continuity in governance,” Edith Dawaten, assistant human resource management officer (HRMO) of Baguio, said in her opening statements.

The 15 city departments, which included the HRMO, planning office, treasury, budget, accounting, assessor, engineering, buildings and architects office, parks management, general services, health, social welfare, local civil registry, and veterinary including the legal, administrator’s and mayor’s offices, reportedly prepared a briefing about functions, programs and directions of each office.

Lawyer Leticia Clemente, city budget officer and president of the Association of City Executives (ACEx), said the briefing "will give [incoming] mayor Magalong a bird’s eye view of what we do in the local government and will make certain that governance processes will continue efficiently from the outgoing to the new leadership.”

***

Clemente said the briefing was also an opportunity to know the career officers who implement programs of the city government.

Before the start of the briefing, Clemente asked Magalong and his staff to “empty our caps so we can accommodate and put in more” ideas, which will be material in the smooth flow of things when the new administration officially starts work noontime of June 30.

She said the circular mandated creation of a transition team that will make sure everything is set in place for implementation of development programs of the city government.

***

Outgoing Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who was present at the start of the briefing, said: “This is necessary to avoid groping in the dark just like what happened to us in 1992 when we sat as appointed mayor after having been elected a vice-mayor.”

Domogan won the 1992 election as vice mayor. However, it did not take a day after taking oath for the said post when the Commission on Elections appointed him as acting mayor following the disqualification order against elected Mayor Ramon “Jun” Labo on questions of his citizenship.

Domogan was quoted as saying in the PNA report they started an initiative having a weekly executive-legislative breakfast meeting to informally discuss in front of the members of both branches issues and matters needing each sector’s attention. He also reportedly shared some issues that continue to be faced by the city.

In creating the transition team, Administrative Order 049-2019, issued April 16, prepared an inventory of all properties, documents and records for the incoming administration to know and be guided on. 

By June 30, the new set of Baguio officials will take office including Magalong, mayor-elect Faustino Olowan and members of the city council. The media and local folks are watching, but for now, Godspeed!