boldstars to run government

the hypothesis is that governments should be run like a corporation.

unfortunately, for the philippines, it is run like a family business - just ask the number of officials who replaced their sister, brother, mother, father, uncle etc.

in the worst case, kids, grand-kids, illegitimate heirs, genetic clones, in-laws run for mayor, vice-mayor, councilor, tongressman, gobernor, baranggay captain, tanod. an interesting note, the governor of cebu has the highest number of relatives currently holding a title in local government service numbering at 15.

given that governments should be run like a business, a corporation is not a charity and exists for one and only one reason: to earn profits. on the other hand, corporate ethics shoub be in place to ensure fair and legal practice of business.


if there is one skill that the elected local official need to master is their ability to act like a COO or the Chief Operating Officer of an organization. again, unfortunately, most of them do have that title: Child Of Owner.


for the newly elected officials who have an opportunity to carry a new standard of governance versus the inherited legacy of family politics, here are the things that a new COO have to do:

1. Account for all heads of department - ask each and every department head to submit their appraisal from their previous boss, and if they don't have any appraisal, ask them to submit a self-appraisal detailing their accomplishments that showed improvement in their department's function. if they can't account for their performance nor have they shown significant contribution to the office they would have enough reason to know that you are fully justified in taking them out of the company.


2. Request for the Audited Financial Reports of the company - in this case, local government officials should ask the finance officer for a full accouting of assets, liabilities (short term and long term), revenue, expenditures and the allocation of resources. do not trust this report, require an independent audit from the commission of audit (coa) to do the same review. as coo you don't want to inherit unaccounted resources, overpaid contracts and anomalous transactions. the longer you postpone this process, the higher the probability that these transactions will be attributed to your government.


3. Check Allocation for Expenses - the finance officer should be able to provide you with the budget allocation for expenses. in fact, this process should be done monthly, quarterly, semi-annually and anually. review this very carefully as you may find that you are spending Php 450 per piece of turon just like congress.


4. Identify your Revenue Sources - if you've managed to anger your local supply to finance (e.g. did not support the elected governor) you may find yourself dependent on your IRA or internal resource allocation fund. as we all know, that is not enough even for turon. on the other hand, with the very inefficient local units of BIR, you'd be surprised to find out that there are hundreds of businesses that has not applied and gotten their permits from town hall. that or the revenue that can be generated from real-estate taxes, or renewal of business permits, cedulas, documentation. money will not willingly come to you, pursue the money trail.


5. Budget your Expenses and Revenue - a finance officer does not only account for disbursement and allocation. otherwise i'd get a teller or clerk to do the same job. a finance officer should be able to prepare a budget to show revenue versus expenses and identify margins (profits). secure a quarterly and annual forecast of revenue and expenses prepared. and yes, the occasional turon treat can be included as part of the budget but not the family outing using police patrol cars.


6. Have a strong Collection Agency - put a good plan together to monitor these revenue generating activities and don't be shy in "reminding" people to pay their taxes. just like a corporation, manage your losses. there are situations where you won't be able to collect all of the taxes that has not been paid for the previous years. be generous, offer to give them amnesty in exchange for paying their tax dues to the government every 15th and 30th of the month, holidays not included.


7. Monitor the Performance - collecting, setting procedures, establishing revenue channels are not enough. set expectations of performance for the finance officer and measure financial performance versus budget and forecast. let the finance officer account for performance delta (reaching 50% of forecast is not good budgetting or forecasting, it simply shows you have someone who is clueless about finance).


8. Reward good performance - get the council to approve a budget for bonuses if the local government unit exceeds the targets set. again, turon treats at Php 5 a piece is perfectly ok but not with matching starbucks banana-oreo-frap worth Php 175.


9. Do Performance Management - people who fail to meet their performance targets should be given clear targets, specific help and monitored for performance. if they fail, don't hesitate to remove them from their appointed posts.

once established, ensure that you select the right people to run the "business" for you so you can focus on the real important task of being a strategist. people fault tommy osmena because of the incurred debt by building the south reclamation project (srp).

what most people don't understand is that if used properly, the srp can sustain itself once commerce and businesses operate on the land. the city of cebu can effectively generate employment, commerce and revenue from all the government licenses and taxes it stands to collect from the prime property.

compare this with the cebu international convention center (cicc) that cost almost a billion pesos to build for one single event and has trouble sustaining its maintenance that will bill the province millions more for upkeep.

that is the key difference, strategic vision.

i remember a joke about the difference between the poorest and richest people of this land. the poorest are the blind because "wala kita" and the richest are the boldstars "lahat kita". for the local official, be bold enough to make the difficult decisions and be a shining star of change and progress.

note:

"wala kita" is a play of word as it literally translates to "no see" but can also mean "no income". in the same manner, "lahat kita" means "all see" but can be interpreted also as "all income".