PALO, Leyte - Reelected Leyte Governor Carlos Jericho "Icot" Petilla exhorted all elected officials of the province to stop politicking and do their work as servants of the people.

The encouragement of the governor to officials of the province was issued yesterday after Executive Judge Santos Gil sworn him into office by during a mass oath taking attended by the mayors, vice mayors and their respective council members who were elected during the May 14 elections.

Also inducted were reelected Vice Governor Mimiette Bagulaya and the entire members of the provincial board.

In his speech, Gov. Petilla said that seeking a public office was, in itself, a difficult task, performing the duties and tasks of being an elected official was a more daunting act.

"You can only be effective if you love your province or municipality. If it is the only reason, then the people did not make a mistake in choosing you," he said to the elected officials.

"I hope we can work all together because I would like to believe that we ran because of our love for our province, love for our people," the reelected governor added.

He claimed that the 45-day campaign for one seeking a local post might be difficult, but getting elected was the "hardest part."

"Because we will be going back to our people for the next three years," Petilla said. Local officials have three-years within a single term. They are allowed for a reelection, which is good for an additional six years.     

Aside from the governor, also inducted into office by the governor and his mother, outgoing Rep. Remedios "Matin" Petilla (1st district), and Rep. Trinidad "Ebbie" Apostol (2nd district) were 23 mayors, 26 vice mayors and more than 50 councilors from the different towns of the province.

Tacloban City Vice Mayor-elect Arvin Antoni and reelected Councilors Wilson Uy and Robert Andrade also joined the three-hour mass oath taking ceremony held at the Leyte Academic Center (LAC), this town.

Among the guests were reelected Samar Governor Milagrosa "Mila" Tan and regional directors of various government agencies led by Director William Paler of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) which is set to conduct an orientation to all local officials on various aspects of governance starting next month.

The governor's wife, Frances Anne, and father, former Gov. Leopoldo Petilla, and heads of various departments of the provincial capitol led by Administrator Vincent "Vince" Emnas also witnessed the occasion.

Gov. Petilla said that when he sought for a second term, he anchored it on his desire to continue to serve the people of the province "for their benefits."

"It is not because I am winnable or have a name (recall) but because I can contribute more to the province and I want to serve (our people)…” he said.

In his ten-minute speech, the governor, however, did not make mentioned what he intends to do as he officially starts his second term as the chief executive of the region's premier province starting high noon of June 30.

But in previous interviews with him, the governor said that his second term would be used to continue all the projects and programs that he started in his first term.

Strengthening the province's agriculture sector as well as giving more focus on education and inviting more investors were among the priorities Petilla said he would do on his second term as governor.