360 Degrees: My First Post as Acting Municipal Treasurer

Two years, two Mayors, a pandemic, a typhoon and an election: what my first post as Acting Municipal Treasurer of Mulanay, Quezon, taught me.

Some assignments arrive with a job description. Mine arrived with a microphone, a restaurant full of masked faces, and a turnover that took two full days.

I received my first designation as Acting Municipal Treasurer of Mulanay, Quezon, at a time when I was the only ICLTE passer in the Provincial Treasurer's Office. An Acting Municipal Treasurer must have passed the Basic Competency on Local Treasury Examination (BCLTE); the Intermediate Competency on Local Treasury Examination (ICLTE) is the higher of the two. That credential opened a door I had not expected to walk through so soon. On the road to Mulanay, one quiet question kept me company: am I ready for this?

Mulanay sits on the Bondoc Peninsula in southern Quezon, a short trip from my hometown of San Andres. It is a town of 28 barangays and 55,576 people, according to the 2020 Census. The place was not new to me, but the office was. What followed, from 2020 to 2022, were two of the most demanding and meaningful years of my career, spent in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic. This is the story of that first post.

A Welcome I Did Not Expect

I arrived in Mulanay at around two in the afternoon, ready for paperwork. I was not ready for the warmth that waited for me that evening.

We gathered at a local restaurant for a dinner with two purposes: to thank the outgoing Municipal Treasurer for the service given to the town, and to welcome me as the new one. We practiced social distancing, so the tables were set well apart. Seated at them were the Municipal Mayor, the Vice Mayor, every member of the Sangguniang Bayan, the Municipal Administrator, the department heads and a few employees of the municipality. I sat with my new group from the Municipal Treasurer's Office, joined by two employees from the Provincial Treasurer's Office who had come to conduct the turnover.

Every face around the tables was half hidden behind a mask. It was the pandemic, and I learned to read smiles in people's eyes. Among them was a familiar one: the Municipal Assessor, my friend and former co-worker at the Provincial Treasurer's Office. In a room full of new colleagues, one friendly face made all the difference.

Then someone handed me the microphone. I thanked everyone for receiving me, and I told them the truth:

This is a challenge for me. My comfort zone has always been one division. Here, I will have to work and decide in 360 degrees.

The next two days belonged to the turnover, formally conducted by those two employees from the Provincial Treasurer's Office. In treasury work, a turnover is more than a handshake. It is the moment accountability changes hands, as cash, records and responsibility pass from one officer to the next.

From One Division to 360 Degrees

Until then, my work had clear borders. I belonged to a single division with a defined set of tasks, and I knew that ground well.

Mulanay erased those borders. As head of the treasury office, I suddenly owned the whole circle: collections, disbursements, cash management, reports, people, and the decisions that tie them together. Problems no longer came from one direction. They came from every side, often at once, and the final call was mine.

That shift is the real test of a first designation. It is not about knowing more rules. It is about seeing the whole office at once and still deciding with care.

Home Was a Container House

The pandemic shaped every part of those years. Travel was restricted, offices ran on skeleton schedules, and going home was rarely an option.

For two years, my home was the municipal container house in Mulanay. It was small and simple, but it kept me close to the office and the work. It stood near the sea, and every night I fell asleep to the sound of the waves. I wore a face mask every working day, until it felt as much a part of my uniform as my ID.

Those nights by the sea taught me something about public service: you cannot always choose your conditions, but you can choose how you show up in them. I am deeply grateful to the people of Mulanay who made those years easier. They checked on me, helped me settle in, and treated the new treasurer like one of their own.

Three Days in Boracay

In those years we could hardly go anywhere. Lockdowns and travel restrictions kept most of us within town limits for months at a time.

So when the first Mayor I served approved my travel to Boracay for a three-day official training, it felt like a rare gift. The training sharpened my skills as a new treasurer, and the short change of scenery sent me back to Mulanay with fresh energy. I remain thankful for that trust, at a time when every trip had to be justified.

When the Typhoon Came

As if a pandemic were not enough, a strong typhoon struck Mulanay during my term. Homes were damaged, livelihoods were lost, and families waited for help.

In a disaster, the treasury is where help becomes cash in people's hands. Together with the municipal officials, headed by the Municipal Mayor, my staff and I visited all 28 barangays to distribute financial assistance to the affected families. It took about a week, and I could not have done it without the responsible, hardworking team beside me.

I came to know the town not from behind a desk, but from its roads, its coastline and its upland villages. Those trips changed how I understand my job.

Every peso we safeguard in the government account exists for moments like that: a family receiving help when they need it most.

Election Duty: Neutral by Mandate

I also served through an election in Mulanay. I will leave the politics to others; that is not my place, and it never should be.

What I can say is this: the law gives the municipal treasurer a role in the election, including the counting and canvassing of votes. It is one of the least visible parts of the job, and one of the most serious. On those days, neutrality is not just good manners. It is the duty itself.

Two Mayors, One Team

During my term I served under two Mayors: the first for one year and ten months, and the second for my final two months. Leadership changed, but the work never paused.

What made that possible was the people. We worked well together across the whole municipality, from the department heads to the frontline staff. In the middle of a pandemic, that kind of teamwork is not a bonus. It is how a town keeps running.

What the Job Taught Me

The work of a municipal treasurer is not easy, and the accountability is high. Every collection, every disbursement and every signature carries your name, and you answer for all of it. Mulanay taught me three lessons I still carry:

Leadership begins outside your comfort zone. I grew the most when I had to see the whole office, not just one division.

Public money has a human face. A week on the road to all 28 barangays after the typhoon made that real for me.

No one serves alone. A pandemic, a typhoon and an election were easier to face because of the people beside me.

Thank You, Mulanay

Looking back, I am truly happy for the experience and the work. To the two Mayors I served, the Vice Mayor, the Sangguniang Bayan, the Municipal Administrator, the department heads, my treasury staff, my friend the Municipal Assessor, and the people of Mulanay: thank you for welcoming a neighbor from San Andres and making me one of your own.

And to anyone receiving a first designation today: say yes to the challenge. The comfort zone is safe, but the growth is out there, all 360 degrees of it.

Population and barangay figures: PhilAtlas, Mulanay, Province of Quezon, based on the 2020 Census.