When political candidates were still campaigning for the May 13, 2013 elections, they told voters under what platforms of development their candidacies were standing on. Those were promises and choices they gave to the voters. For those who won and have taken their oath of office by June 30, obviously, the voters liked and believed their promises. When they took their oath of office they swore before God that they would not renege on those promises. By their oath those promises have become contracts. So by now the sworn political leaders should have ended the partying and have now rolled their sleeves for the implementation of the programs and projects they have promised. They only have three years to accomplish what they have over promised the people. Those who are still partying should be suspects for breach of contract. So monitoring and evaluation should already start by now. Usually the week after oath taking is devoted to putting the house in order, i.e. putting square pegs in square holes and round pegs in round holes and the issuance of marching orders for everyone who count in the organization. No one who is paid with people’s money should be allowed to be bystanders or bench warmers.

Other Local Government Units (LGUs) and their officials are more advanced. They have not only organized their people, but also already converted those promises into implementable plans complete with budget. In fact the Provincial Government of Bohol has already presented its enhanced development framework to all the mayors and vice mayors, the officials of the national government agencies in Bohol and the private sector. In a way the provincial government has already done its homework before it was given. Other municipal local governments should take their cues from the province. Being pro-active is the game of the day. Those who cannot keep track with that will frustrate the people’s expectation. From experience, LGUs have the tendency to present to the people a wish list of what is to be done which will raise expectations that cannot be met within the term limit of three years of local officials. When this is done the checklist becomes too long to satisfy evaluation measures and indicators at the end of the term. Re-electionists in the 2016 Presidential election will not want this to happen.

So let’s look for this checklist and keep watch for their implementation and accomplishment. Doing so will make up the exercise of private sector participation in governance, something that is mandated under the Local Government Code. NOTES. Congratulations to Former Bohol Governor Nonoy Torralba and his wife Babing on their 60th Wedding Anniversary yesterday. They renewed their vows at a Mass celebrated at the Immaculate Conception Church in Dauis. Nonoy was first appointed OIC Governor of Bohol in 1988 and later won in an election. He is known for his visionary development outlook for Bohol. The tourism development of Bohol anchored by Panglao Island, the New Bohol Airport in Panglao, the Irrigation Systems, the Leyte-Bohol Power Interconnection, the Loon Bohol Cruise Ship Port are among those he has already identified during his incumbency 22 years ago.