Commitment

Taking the lead from friends who had been texting me a new greeting, I tried messaging them “Isang maulang umaga” (A rainy morning). Initially, however, the phone’s automatic speller kept insisting that I spell “maulang” as “mauling.”

I laughed, thinking of how the monsoon and typhoon rains do have a way not just of dampening but also of mauling our spirits. But these last two days I’ve been feeling more high than down, somewhat more conscious of how committed Filipinos can be to work, so contrary to the “Juan Tamad” stereotype.

Early Wednesday morning I got text messages from Neil Santillan, vice chancellor for student affairs of the University of the Philippines Diliman, and from Anril Tiatco, who heads the Diliman Information Office, about a Quezon City directive suspending classes at all levels.

I gave them the go-signal to issue text blasts—mass broadcasting of SMS to students, faculty and staff—announcing the suspension of both classes and work. Because freshmen registration and orientation activities for both parents and students have been going on during the week, we had to include, in the announcement, a new schedule for these activities.

Permission to work

As soon as I got a copy of the text blast, I imagined students, faculty and staff rejoicing. But I was surprised when I got a message from lawyer Malou Raval, director of the Diliman Legal Office, asking permission to push through with a staff meeting scheduled for that day.

I replied: Sure, and kudos to the office for such commitment.

Then another text message came from University Registrar Marilyn Canta expressing worry about freshmen registration. Parents and students had come from out of Manila, some with tickets to return home this weekend. Could we push through with registration activities? she asked.

I chuckled. I’m used to suspending classes and office work, but this time I was authorizing people to work!

That night I again got an SMS from Anril about Quezon City suspending classes at all levels for two more days. A flurry of text messages followed as I consulted with Marilyn Canta about the implications of such a suspension. My team decided that work should continue, with excused absences for those who might not be able to get to work because of floods in their areas, but it was crucial that we continue with freshmen registration.

A text blast was out within an hour about class suspensions but with an assurance that freshmen registration would continue.

We’ve been using Smart and Globe’s text blasts since last year and cannot imagine how we would live without these systems. But they do fail sometimes, or are delayed—as they were early Wednesday.   When that happened I instructed Anril to contact our two security guard agencies to inform their personnel that classes were suspended. I thought about them because as early as 6:30 that morning, the guard assigned to the Balay Tsanselor had asked me for a response to an inquiry from the guard at the Institute of Mathematics: Students, presumably from the dorms, wanted to know if there would be classes.

UP Diliman has close to 27,000 students (including those in the UP Integrated School), 2,000 faculty members, and close to 3,000 staff members, so the communication needs are challenging. Don’t forget, too, the need to counteract naysayers and people with malicious intent who spread misinformation through social media.

My administrative team’s learning to use different communication platforms: cell phone SMS as well as social media, and the old-fashioned word of mouth, through “gatekeepers” like the guards. But all this requires effort—and commitment. On Wednesday night close to midnight, Anril texted me that he was on standby in case we needed to send out more texts. That’s commitment.

Whiners vs doers

That commitment in government offices is, unfortunately, often unappreciated. People whine (thanks, John Nery, for using that perfect description) all the time when there are delays in getting things done, without checking why the delays happen. And yet when government employees get things done on time, sometimes ahead of time, or when they go beyond the call of duty, you can hear the cold silence.

Our Campus Maintenance Office in Diliman is an example. Descended from the Physical Plant Office—which has been derided as the Patay Patay Office—CMO takes care of nearly 500 hectares of the Diliman campus, its 170 office buildings and countless residential units. Whenever a typhoon strikes, CMO personnel are out there cleaning up and handling whatever they can. They know their limits, too, so that they alert Meralco and other offices when they need help. Are they ever praised for their work? I hear some CMO employees were actually shocked when I did that last year after a typhoon.

The list goes on and on, with unappreciated offices in UP, a University Food Service that’s redefining cafeteria food for the better, taste-wise and nutrition-wise, and a University Health Service that’s working hard to banish the “Infirmatay” moniker.

I have to mention that UP Diliman overlaps with eight barangays, with an estimated 70,000 residents. They’re also part of the university’s responsibility, and when I woke up Thursday morning I was worried that those living close to creeks might have their homes flooded, as has happened in the past. So off I went early that morning to the Barangay UP Diliman’s office to talk with the kapitana, Isabelita Gravides.

It was only 7:30 and already there were people milling around, including one administrative officer about to open her office. I asked if there had been reports of flooding and she was quick to answer that they had been monitoring the communities. No floods, she assured me, not even in Daang Bakal, which is one of the most flood-prone areas.

That’s commitment, too, which I see all the time in our barangay officials, from daybreak to sunset and way beyond.

There’s just so much enthusiasm out there among our citizens, in civil society and, yes, in our gobyerno—not some amorphous bureaucracy but people, many who truly love their work, their community and our country. Now to channel that commitment and energy toward targeted causes, from disaster preparedness and response, to fighting corruption.

* * *

E-mail: mtan@inquirer.com.ph