Mr. Multiple

Mr. Multiple

In a given department, unit, section, or division of a local government, there are so many tasks that are hidden from view -- that is to say, unknown to most people, particularly the public at large.

Because of regular directives, orders, advisories, circulars, and communication letters of that sort from the President through the Department of the Interior and Local Government, every office is required, from time to time, to implement certain things at the workplace. That's how powerful a sitting president is.

To name just a few... There is a "no breaktime policy," i.e., employees can't deny service to a client during lunch time and snack breaks; someone else needs to be available in case an employee is on official break. Every government employee is required to wear a visible ID, almost the size of a placard if need be. Every employee must attend the flag ceremony every Monday, and in the case of the current dispensation, wear Filipiniana or ASEAN clothes as part of the dress code. All employees with a plantilla position ('permanent employee') must submit a SALN (Statement of Assets, Liabilities, and Net Worth) annually and an IPCR (Individual Performance Review) quarterly or so. I am just getting started.

You see, I don't know with other LGUs and government agencies, but when I switched to local government work in the province, I expected the work to be what they called "petiks" (light?), but in our case, I was appalled to find it to be almost like missionary work. There is an element of sacrifice, evangelistic zeal, pursuit of ideals (albeit in the name of material and socioeconomic progress), and the like.

Lately, the policies I have observed to have been added are the requirements to have a GAD (gender and development) focal person, a mini-budget officer, a mini-planning officer, a point person who needs to complete an ICS (Incident Command System) course, a safety officer, an energy savings focal person, a procurement officer, and in the case of our LGU, an IT TWG (technical working group) member, a Data Management System (DMS) personnel, an ISO focal person, someone who answers Facebook Messenger and comments on a given time frame, a newsletter circulation manager, and a website administrator.

Any head of a department or section would have hypertension just imagining oneself doing everything by one's lonesome. I haven't even mentioned the meetings an LGU head needs to attend as committee, task force, council, or special body officer or member per week. Clearly, one needs a lot of helping hands. To prevent the potential of karoshi (go look up what it means) and save on overhead, it would be best to hire someone who is multitalented and, if possible, has the superhuman capacity to multitask -- at minimum expense if that is possible at all.

When Don approached me one day to ask if he could possibly transfer to my section, he was downcast for reasons I prefer not to mention. While listening to his story, I was also bargaining with him as to whether he was willing to perform this and that task no one else was willing to take on at the time due to lack of skills or having reached optimum workload. He said yes to all.

Soon, he was taking care of the procurement process. Then he was given the access to DMS messages. Then he took over the website updating and administration. One day, he became a safety officer. And what impressed me was when he was assigned to take up the difficult Incident Command System (ICS) course, and finished all four levels!

What's more, he was even willing to substitute for someone or be an emergency back-up guy if I lacked a photographer, reporter, and layout artist at a given time, or a proxy for an important meeting or seminar.

For proving to be such a versatile worker, we his officemates have taken to calling him Mr. Multiple (for multiple intelligence), especially when we learned that, on top of everything (after all, he is also a son, husband, and father to two girls), he also sings well and into various sports, particularly basketball, judo, and lately, arm wrestling.

He's not perfect, but who is? (Of course, he has his own Achilles' heels.)

With his transfer to DepEd, I have lost a key workforce member. But I try to be happy for him. After all, everyone needs to look for greener pastures as one does not get any younger with the marching of the years.

One thing, though: I'm pretty sure he's learned a whole lot of lessons from his time with us in the LGU and I hope he'll be able to put them into good use.

Now I wonder where I would find the most fitting person -- or, um, multitude of personnel -- for the various tasks he just left behind. I figure it would be like looking for that Hindu god with multiple arms.