Tom to help single moms through ‘ungovernment concept’

Local

AS HE returns to the Cebu City Hall, Vice Mayor-elect Tomas Osmeña is bringing a new experiment to governance, starting with 40 single mothers, a call center job, and one communal home.

Osmeña on Thursday, June 19, presented an unconventional initiative under what he calls his “ungovernment” concept, a pilot program that aims to empower single mothers by providing them with stable employment, shared housing, childcare support, and basic daily needs all in one integrated setup.

“We’re going to start with 40 single mothers. They’ll all work in the same call center, live in the same place, ride the same bus, and send their kids to the same school,” Osmeña said in a consultation with a business process outsourcing (BPO) company.

The city, he said, will construct a boarding house for the women where participants will live together and operate within a communal system.

Their salaries will be channeled through a partner institution, which will manage deductions for shared expenses, including food, utilities, daycare, transportation, and even personal hygiene supplies.

“Everything is taken care of, even your toothpaste and toothbrush,” Osmeña said.

“There will be one communal kitchen. The food will be cooked by hired personnel. The laundry is done. A nursery will care for the children,” he added.

The private partner, likely a call center company, will not pay the women directly but instead contract the institution, which will oversee financial and operational management.

The entire setup is meant to reduce the barriers single mothers face in entering full-time employment, such as a lack of childcare, transportation, and household responsibilities.

Osmeña said the city would begin with a “small but complete” system.

“Why 40? Because that’s the size of the bus,” he said. “We will not start with 20 or 50. We will start with a manageable group we can support fully.”

Osmeña described the concept as a modernized, localized version of the Israeli “kibbutz,” a collective community where people live and work together under shared responsibilities and mutual support.

He said it is not an original idea but one that has proven successful elsewhere, and that he hopes to adapt it to Cebu’s needs.

“It’s actually a form of communism with a twist,” he said. “But you can leave anytime. It’s not mandatory. If you have nowhere to go, this is something for you.”

The project will begin with two physical structures, one prototype and a second upgraded version based on learnings from the first.

Osmeña emphasized that the model will evolve continuously through trial and error until an efficient system is achieved.

“We’ll build the second version immediately — Series 2 — and improve from there. Then we go back, demolish the first one, and build again,” he said.

The former mayor said the initiative is not meant to solve all problems at once but to focus on a single, scalable solution with impact.

“The government tries to fix everything and keeps getting screwed up,” Osmeña said. “My style is to fix one problem first — analyze it down to its knuckles — and then kill it. If we can make this work, others can replicate it.”

The program will begin after Osmeña and Mayor-elect Nestor Archival Sr. assume office at the end of June.

While still in early stages, the idea has already received nods from potential BPO partners.

Osmeña stressed the need to work with a company willing to support the pilot batch, adding that many single mothers are highly qualified but unable to enter formal employment because of their responsibilities at home.

“I see the gap. There are so many overqualified women who can do this. They just need the right support system,” he said.

If successful, the model may be expanded in the future to accommodate more women, with new groups formed and supported through the same structure.

“We’re not forcing anyone. We’re asking people who have nowhere to go — try this. Let’s build something better than what they have now.”(TGP)