THE Duterte administration has been known for frontline services that are innovations in public management — from passport, license and birth certificate processing, to the one-stop-shop renewal of business permits and business registrations, among others. “Frontline” has always been the mantra since 2016. Unfortunately in this pandemic, that vaunted frontline is nowhere because it takes time for the central government to act. You would think that with Republic Act 11469, or the “Bayanihan to Heal as One Act,” the national government and local government units (LGUs) would get their acts together. There is a time lag from the passage to roll-out. It has been a logistical nightmare, to say the least.

We are very public official-centric. Everything is focused on a chief executive, whether president, governor or mayor. It shows that majority of LGUs do not know what risk management is. Most LGUs do not have business continuity plans. They just breathe and live on politics and the next election cycle. Governance seems to have been set aside so that when crisis comes, they freeze and wait for the national government to tell them what to do, to give them money, to lead the way.

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