CITY OF MATI, DAVAO ORIENTAL — As the provincial government held its first ever online meeting on Thursday due to COVID-19 pandemic, the province’s Chief Executive is “upbeat” as he pointed to “great opportunity to prove our mettle…”

“It is indeed a great effort on our part ever since the COVID-19 pandemic, for the most part, imposed on us a virtual existence. Given the challenges of preparing and conducting this online meeting, the current situation has definitely change how we gather, how we meet these days,” says Davao Oriental Governor Nelson Dayanghirang during the first ever online meeting of the Provincial Development Council on Thursday afternoon.

“This year may have been a particularly difficult time, and yet on the upbeat, I see it also as a great opportunity to prove our mettle in coordinating all our development efforts even more. As Chair, I am responsible in making sure that today’s meeting is carried out effectively and that matters are dealt with in an orderly and efficient manner,” adds Governor Dayanghirang as he stressed the online meeting was just among the many measures being implemented by the provincial government “in support to public health to keep people safe and informed during this health crisis that continue to beset us.”

During the PDC meeting which was attended by all of the province’s municipal and city mayors and heads of the provincial and national government agencies, Governor Dayanghirang also stressed the need to fight fake news that fuels more confusion among the people amid the COVID-19 pandemic. “With all the fake news circulating nowadays, it is best that everyone has access to accurate information,” says the Governor.

Amid the raging pandemic, the national government has appointed Governor Dayanghirang and the presidential daughter, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, as regional ambassadors for the national government’s Disiplina Muna Program. The Governor’s anti-COVID measures are being credited as the province posted a lowest COVID cases in the Davao Region, while it also has the highest recovery rate for COVID cases.

“GAME OF DISCIPLINE”

Going back to basics is the name of the game, says the Department of the Interior and Local Government, the national agency that is tasked as focal for the program. The banner program that seeks to renew and rebuild the culture of discipline among Filipinos has appointed Governor Dayanghirang and Mayor Duterte for its exemplary leadership that is worthy of emulation for other local government officials in the country.

Renewing and rebuilding the culture of discipline “is the secret weapon,” says the DILG. “And just like any high-risk, high-reward games, it asks nothing but every players’ passion and participation. It is a game where every one of us is a player placed on a leveled playing field with the opportunity to partake in a nationwide effort to cement all of the government’s gains in its various campaigns such as road clearing, tourism, and anti-illegal drugs, among others, by living a life of discipline,” says the DILG in an official statement.

“We are tasked to reconsider our values and behavior and see discipline as our contribution to nation-building. We are handed a chance to participate, utilizing a change of attitude which is innately human. The ball is now passed on to us. But the lingering question is: Are Filipinos willing to play the game?” says the DILG as they are banking on good governance champions in the country like Governor Dayanghirang of Davao Oriental and Mayor Duterte of Davao City to inspire the rest of the local government officials in the country to support and spearhead the Disiplina Muna program otherwise called the “Game of Discipline.”

“While the world surges forward with the latest advancements in technology, prompting an unprecedented rise in modern upgrades in almost all facets of our daily undertakings, we are asked, as a nation, to go back to basics, deliver the clinching hit to win the game and tap on discipline in a bid to renew our nation. With everything around us spinning on their own accord, demanding us to keep up or be left behind, will the great and heroic Filipino race, pause, call for a time-out, and acknowledge how misaligned our discipline has been? As upfront as it is, common notion and daily anecdotes point to the ugly truth that Filipinos in all segments of society, have turned their backs on living a life of discipline. Filipinos have not been scoring well in the game of discipline. But we remain hopeful. As they say it in the world of sports, ‘it ain’t over until it’s over,” says the DILG.

| By Ferdinand Zuasola