So long, Dodo

So long, Dodo

Opinion
Written by Liling Magtolis Briones / Boiled Green Bananas
Business mirror, Sunday, 13 June 2010 22:49

The country has just lost one of its best governors: Emilio “Dodo” C. Macias II, newly reelected governor of Negros Oriental. The loss of Dodo will be keenly felt not only in the province and the rest of the Visayas but the entire country, as well. Dodo is recognized also in international circles as one of the most innovative local officials in the Philippines.

The role of local government units (LGUs) in national development has been recognized since the ’50s. Outstanding LGUs and local executives have been awarded and recognized nationally and internationally. The Galing Pook Award is one of the leading institutions which publicly recognizes and rewards outstanding LGU performance. The United Nations Development Program has also given recognition to outstanding LGUs.

These LGUs and their executives serve as role models to fellow LGUs. They give hope to those who despair that local governments are also infected with the malaise, cynicism and dirty politics which typifies national governance. These LGUs have proven that with dynamic leadership and support from their communities, development can happen even with minimal resource assistance from the national government.

Negros Oriental is one such province. Under the leadership of Governor Macias II, followed by George Arnaiz, and later back to Dodo, the province and its municipalities have won a vast array of awards for innovative development projects. No year passes without a city, municipality or the province itself receiving recognition and reward. Because it has been recognized as “Outstanding Province” by Galing Pook many times over, Negros Oriental has been elevated to the Hall of Fame.

Dodo’s final journey

Early this morning, text messages announced the passing away of Dodo at 3 a.m. yesterday. He succumbed to multiple complications from cancer after surviving a bruising provincial electoral campaign and winning another term as governor of Negros Oriental.

Dodo is a product of two of the leading educational institutions in the country—Silliman University and University of the Philippines (UP). He completed his high school and pre-medical course at Silliman and his medical studies at the University of the Philippines. In Silliman, he learned the Christian values of community work and caring for the poor. In UP he acquired the passion for professional excellence. He applied his learnings from these two universities in his work as a public servant of the province on which he poured all his affection and dedicated service.

Dodo’s greatest legacy

Irma Faith Pal of Dumaguete Metropost asked me what I believe is the greatest legacy of Dodo. His greatest legacy is his strategy of uniting communities in activities and projects which rely on traditional cultural values like alayon or bayanihan, kurambos or cost-sharing and burden sharing, and “sweat equity” or contributions in the form of labor.

Negros Oriental and its municipalities have reaped many awards for projects based on community participation, and not on external funding. I know all of them, having written a number of case studies on the province for the United Nations Development Program.

I am familiar with his Community Hospital program which he started in 1988, long before awards became fashionable. Dodo did not wait for budget allocations from the national government and international organizations. He mobilized the local host barangay, and municipality and asked them to give financial and material support while the local community provided labor, food for the patients and tended vegetable gardens. This concept has been replicated by many other provinces.

I wrote another case study about the “Tabo sa Provincial Agriculturist’s Office” which created a market for farmers’ produce without going through middlemen. This project won a special citation from the United Nations Development Program.

During my last interview with him, he was waxing eloquent over his Government Agricultural Development Center (Gadcent) which pilots the growing of vegetables and other crops, and the development of fishponds—all based on organic agriculture. He was developing a health-insurance scheme for the province which already caught the eye of national officials. A few days before election, he was working out a scheme for providing the province with advanced medical equipment and services.

I cannot forget our long conversation at Gadcent, “I have always loved agriculture. Food is basic. Failure is not an option. I like competing. I want to start something new all the time and take the road less traveled. People are interested in my projects because I give them the support they need.”

So long, Dodo.