Pampanga mayors' vow: To serve with honor, lead with integrity

 

“CORRUPTION IS not only illegal – it is a betrayal of the trust reposed upon us by our constituents.”

Thus, the League of Municipalities of the Philippines-Pampanga Chapter declared in an official statement during the Pampanga Business and Investment Forum 2025 held at the Kingsborough Convention Center in the City of San Fernando on Aug. 27. 

The local chief executives “categorically denounce all forms of corruption, in any level and in any guise, for it robs our people of resources that are meant for their welfare and their future.”

Citing the current public discourse on the flood control and infrastructure anomalies, the mayors highlighted transparency and accountability as “the guiding principle in all areas of governance – in health, education, social services, procurement, budgeting and local legislation.

Toward that end, they committed themselves to:

“Demand transparency in the use of public funds and ensure that all programs and projects are aligned with the real needs of our people;

Promote accountability by strengthening internal controls, reporting mechanisms, and participatory governance; and

Safeguard the public trust through proactive measures that prevent misuse of government resources and ensure equitable delivery of services.”    

Adhering to the highest tenets of public administration thus: “Our people deserve nothing less than a government that is clean, transparent, and accountable.”

Ending with a call to arms: “Together, let us reaffirm our pledge to serve with honor, to lead with integrity, and to build a Pampanga where governance is defined by trust, not tainted by corruption.”

So, help them God.

Disservice to the people

So, it cannot be helped to feel some bitter sense of irony as much in the statement of the mayors’ league as in the very locus of its issuance. 

It was but 22 days back, Aug. 5, at that same room of the same Kingsborough Convention Center that these same mayors took their “Panunumpa ng Lingkod-Bayan,” vowing:

“… ako’y maglilingkod nang buong katapatan, malasakit, at kahusayan, na walang kinikilingan.

Isusulong ko ang katarungan, katotohanan, at kapayapaan; ilalaban ko ang tama, lalabanan ang mali, at isasantabi ang pansariling interes alang-alang sa kapakanan ng bayan.

Paninindigan ko ang prinsipyo ng mabuting pamamahala: ang pagiging bukas, tapat, makatao, at makabayan.

Ipagkakaloob ko ang aking panahon, talino, at lakas sa matapat at makabuluhang paglilingkod sa mamamayan, anuman ang katayuan, paniniwala, o pinanggalingan nila.

Ako ay mananatiling tapat sa aking sinumpaang tungkulin sa buong panahon ng aking panunungkulan.

Hindi ko pababayaan ang tiwalang ipinagkaloob sa akin ng taumbayan.

Ako ay lingkod ng bayan. Taumbayan ang aking paglilingkuran.” 

That pledge, serving as the leitmotif of the LEAD (Leadership, Ethics, Accountability, and Development in Local Governance) Program conducted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Pampanga Provincial Government.

Ethics there fleeing with San Simon Mayor Abundio “JP” Punsalan’s date with destiny over P30 million at Café Mesa in Clark Freeport Zone in the afternoon of that same day.  

“Pasumpa-sumpa ka pa, ‘tangna ka,” that old ditty about broken vows went viral with photos of Punsalan pledging to ethical public service juxtaposed with video clips of his arrest by the NBI. Those bundles of crisp P500 bills, just too damning. 

Out of 21, only one. Punsalan can be readily dismissed as an isolated case among the mayors of Pampanga. Fair enough. 

What cannot be helped, if only in this instance, is the diminishing credibility of pledges verily taken on one’s honor. Gone the way of political promises, pledges are routinely broken, peeled of all virtue, clothed in shame.   

Pledges can only be redeemed in deeds. It is not even enough to just walk the talk. Live the vow is what matters most.