THE Vice Governor of Negros Oriental is in a cunundrum.
I met VGov Chaco Sagarbarria last Friday and had a breakfast-meet with him in one of Dumaguete’s favorite meal holes.
For starters, he ran and won as senior board member. He was thrown into the limelight when the Governor of Negros Oriental was brutally killed right in his own house last March 4.
Because of that, the Vice Governor became the Governor and the Senior Board Member became the Vice Governor by operation of law.
So Chaco Sagarbarria is now the Vice Governor of Negros Oriental.
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The problem arose when it was discovered that the voucher/payroll was not signed by the former governor for the month of February, 2023.
This means that all provincial employees, including the members of the Sanggunian, were not able to receive their take-home pay for that month.
Now, the month of March is about to end.
And this means that unless the voucher/payroll is signed by the Governor, the same situation will apply, no salary for the month of March.
From the viewpoint of a man who has several mouths to feed on a daily basis, plus some daily necessities, this non-receipt of salary for the month is like a piston-driven hammer striking the head.
This is now the situation in Negros Oriental.
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How can the provincial employees receive their salary for the months of February and March?
Vice Governor Chaco Sagarbarria is clueless.
His job is legislation, the issue of payment of monthly salary is executive. This is the job of the new governor of Negros Oriental.
So what is the reason why he failed to sign the payroll/voucher for all provincial employees?
Nobody knows. And nobody is telling.
But when he appeared on Facebook weeks back, and even showed his raised feet to demonstrate that he was well and in good spirits, he looked emasculated, unwell and sickly-looking.
Those who saw his demo were one in saying that he is unwell and needs to take leave so he could rest and focus on getting well.
So if public suspicion is true, that he is unwell and needs medical attention, then subjecting him to the rigors of performing the job and functions of a provincial chief executive on a daily basis, plus the accompanying stress, would be counter-productive and does not augur well to the well-being of the provincial government of Negros Oriental.
If he really needs to rest and get the necessary medical attention, then by all means, he should get it and nobody should force him to subject himself to more stress and pressure of work.
Why hang on the job at the expense of the provincial employees?
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Reports said that no less than 300 members the PNP in Negros Oriental have been relieved and subjected to “further training” following the Degamo murder.
It is not really clear what prompted the PNP command to subject the Negros policemen to “debriefing” but suspicion is high on the possibility that these policemen have been possibly “politicized,” meaning – they have become chummy to the powers that be.
On theory, that is bawal.
But on real life situation, that is like mission impossible.
Why?
Well, it is common knowledge that getting a job, transfer or promotion in the PNP is highly politicized.
Of course, there are meritorious appointments, transfers or promotions. But to my knowledge, this is more of the exception than the rule.
When a Chief of Police (COP) gets the ire of the Mayor, or the Mayor’s family or relatives or supporter, chances are that the COP will get transferred elsewhere, the distance of transfer is more often than not, synonymous with the gravity of the offense of the COP.
The more grave, the more distant he will get transferred.
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This is the reason why the policemen are forced to become “sipsip” and always doing pa-itoy-itoy aron dili initan, and possibly get the necessary endorsement for promotion or transfer.
Anybody in the police force knows this.
While the mayors and politicians do not have operational control, they have administrative control over the policemen. Farce is the idea that the policemen are highly professional and their relationship to politicians, especially local politicians, is impersonal.
Kon gusto ka nga dili initan, nga dili magka-problema, dapat lang magpa-muchacho ka sa mga politiko, this is the common sentiment.
Now, in the case of the Negros policemen, do you think they are the exception to the rule?
Do you think they have free hand in the performance of their duty?
Do you think they were not forced to be chummy with politicians aron di makulban og kaldero?
Do you think they have complete freedom in their job as policemen, nga dili mag-apil-apil ang mga politiko?
