Adventures on FB Messenger

Adventures on FB Messenger

In 2016, I applied as a writer in the LGU and was eventually designated as a 'Public Information Officer.' Among the many tasks I didn't expect to have is answer messages from the people--directly--through our Facebook page, whether they were entered as comments or PMs (private messages).

In a town of an estimated 120,000 population, there were so many people, so many messages to handle. This alone was a humbling and exhausting work, and I was almost alone at it.

I received all sorts of complaints. Many of those were about the services of the power provider, water provider, telecom companies, local district hospital... I answered as politely and empathetically as I could--after all, their complaints were my complaints too. But I felt bad that I had to answer at all for a lot of concerns, particularly these ones outside LGU jurisdiction.

I couldn't blame the people either. I myself didn't know before I became PIO that some areas were outside LGU jurisdiction, and this includes, I found out, national roads and provincial roads and bridges along those roads. The best we could do is coordinate with those agencies politely and relay the complaints from our people. (It didn't occur to a lot of people that they can, in fact, complain directly to all those agencies mentioned.)

The other complaints fell under different LGU departments' responsibility, and these were duly relayed to all the heads and staff concerned. So early in the morning and I was already exhausted dealing with someone whose neighbor had a stinking pigpen or a chicken hatchery overrun by flies.

Understandably, many messages were about local government services and ayuda systems: how to avail? what are the requirements? For this, I am thankful for our Citizen's Charter. Procedures and requirements are actually similar nationwide.

Speaking of ayuda, the bulk of complaints was about why this or that person is a beneficiary (4Ps) and he or she or his or her own father or mother or sister or brother is not. Another concern outside jurisdiction. (It's DSWD's this time.)

Messages come in at all times of the day and in all days every single day. Answering messages felt like it required 3 shifts, just like in factories!

There were times when I had to give updates and sometimes used my personal account for follow-ups. Big mistake. To my chagrin, I often ended up having total strangers as chatmates, with our kilometric 'convo' ending into the dead of the night. Gone was my precious energy, my limited time.

From time to time, there were messages asking for emergency assistance--even when we had an official emergency hotline fully equipped with responders of all kinds. I understand. Messaging through FB costs nothing, compared to making a phone call through landline or cell phone. Because I am too kind-hearted, I would answer anything of emergency nature and relayed whatever I received to proper authorities. Good thing Facebook eventually had a feature in which we can indicate whether the page is closed or open to messaging services.

In this task, I am particularly grateful for the screenshot feature (PrtSc) of my laptop and smartphone, while being mindful of confidentiality. (Confidentiality is a challenging legality to navigate: A lot of complainants prefer not to be identified, and we respect that, but this becomes a problem when there is a need to reveal identities. What's the name of the 'office' again?)

You can just imagine what it was like for me answering all sorts of frantic messages during the COVID-19 pandemic--all at the same time and one after another without fail. (I have written on this separately.)

I am thankful that the hiring of additional staff eventually solved the problem of the super-human amount of workload just in this part of the job. (All other departments experience the same feeling of being overwhelmed, I know, that our constituents are not even aware of, with some department heads likening it to drowning.) Now, I can focus on other equally important work, like hunkering down on the day's write-ups and coordinating with the newsmakers: public officials and the heads of any random department or agency with an important event or two. (This is the reason I get to chat with dozens and dozens of people from all walks per day.)

What I'd like to dwell on right now, though, are the most unusual and most unforgettable requests I got.

I can't quite forget the temerity of this person asking the mayor to shoulder her daughter's debut (birthday bash) or something like that. I double-checked and the person didn't look indigent to me. I had to do a quick review of the actual mandate of a local chief executive, whether it includes throwing away birthday parties for free. I realized I had the power to say no merely by ignoring messages I thought didn't deserve a response.

I also can't forget that wife who asked where her missing husband could be while hinting at domestic trouble. Could I help her, please? I referred her to the Local Civil Registrar. There were cases of lovers' quarrel too, which I was too inept to handle.

There were times when I would feel like the town's Google search engine or telephone directory, whenever someone asks whether this or that kind of establishment exists in Bayambang, or how to get from here to there. This has opened my eyes a bit to which services or business enterprises can and cannot be found in our locality, and how to get around from our town to other places. Among the things I noticed missing or woefully inadequate at the time are ENT specialists, dermatologists, allergy testing center, hearing testing center, other medical specialists, certain drugs (medicines), certain medical tests and procedures, cashew cream de-wart clinics, specialty cuisine restos, and so on.

Complex legal issues always put us in a quandary and were best referred to the Legal Department.

On rare occasions, I had to deal with mental cases, which are, of course, best ignored.

The worst case is downright criminal. One day a female staff--she was still innocent and single then--reported that a guy showed her a photo of his erect phallus while communicating.

For other obviously criminal incidents such as neighborhood altercations and physical violence, I direct complainants to the local police page, but protocol dictates that complainants coordinate with the barangay first.

The truth is, a lot of concerns can be solved at the barangay level and need not be relayed to our level, such as videoke time past 10 PM; tall coconut trees right beside someone else's fence, giving a clear and present danger; dogs leaving poo at the gate, etc. So I routinely advise complainants to raise the issue first with their Barangay Hall, out of due respect to the latter or in observance of the principle of subsidiarity. I am often rebutted with an irked comeback: "That is why I am directing the concern to you because I was ignored at the barangay hall in the first place!"

People sometimes forget that there is a real human being behind the PMs and lose their sense of common courtesy. But as a public servant, I had to keep my cool at saintly levels you could never imagine possible, considering how impatient I can get.

OFWs in distress were the most challenging to handle, emotionally speaking. Addressing their calls for help also requires a lot of back-and-forth and inter-agency liaison work. What if someone told you she was in jail in China and they shaved her hair? Or if someone informed you that she was being raped by her Arab employer at home just because she took a bath, which was wrongly read as an invitation to have sexual intercourse?

With this form of assistance, our office is not only an LGU’s internal media and public relations arm, but something else that every LGU is required to have: a PACD or Public Assistance and Complaints Desk—or an online version of it.

Now one of the most valuable lessons in this ‘adventure’ is to be wary of the pitfalls of the incomplete or inaccurate story, if not tall tales. A lot of complainants come to us bearing their version of a narrative. A careless frontline responder like us can easily get carried away by their stories particularly when it is about a story or injustice such as public servants allegedly treating them bad. But years of experience has taught me never to believe anything at face value, to get the other side or sides of the story until a more and more complete picture emerges. As much as highly stressful this job can get, it requires calm, evenhandedness, and equanimity just as much.

I had to shed off the natural impulsiveness carried over from my youth to get this job done right.

On the other hand, I realize that people with incomplete stories are not being dishonest in the middle of anger; it is just that their vision of reality is often warped by high emotions.

I wonder if these tens of thousands of people messaging us day by day realize how much they should be grateful to the kind, accommodating, and hardworking keyboard warriors behind each helpful answer and informative response they receive with the convenience of digital technology.