Even when government authorities declare it casually, there is nothing more reassuring to the vigilant public than the catchphrase, "follow-up."

This means the responsibility of the administration on current accountability and obligation is in active status. Quite the contrary of what many suspect that authorities have fallen into the “ningas cogon” slumber.

As a result, the public is confident that the government is at it and there is no let-up in dedicated public governance. There is that unmistakable display of enthusiasm on the part of the administration planners and implementors.

One of the better appreciated results of a government follow-up is the recent directive of the Department of Trade and Industry to thwart the schemes of some businessmen and traders to take advantage of a calamity.

Secretary Peter Favila ordered his agency's regulators to keep a close watch on the prices of vegetables and other garden produce bought every ay by ordinary housewives. He has been receiving complaints on those inordinate price movements.

Also in the Favila order were car repair shops and assemblers of big car dealers to be reasonable in their charges. There have been outcry from car owners whose vehicles were destroyed during the "Ondoy” flooding of their subdivisions, of these shops levying atrocious service and parts costs.

Last Wednesday, Secretary Favila made plans to put a price ceiling on pork, chicken, and other meat products widely purchased by families during the holiday season. Include those table fares that come into the “nuche buena” table. This is commendable, to say the least.

And DTI Undersecretary Zeny Maglaya is relentlessly monitoring the retail market and seeing to it that there is no let-up in protecting public interests as ordered by Secretary Favila.

More on the follow-up directive. A partylist congresswoman has urged Malacañang not to lift the freeze on prices of gasoline and oil products in calamity areas. “They should not succumb to pressure being exerted by chambers of commerce of foreigners doing business in the country,” says the lady solon.

In police work, persistent follow-up in crimes often pays off. Law enforcers almost wiped out the Alvin Flores robbery gang in a resort near Cebu City. The gang leader and three of his henchmen were killed by crimefighters.

Intelligence work (the NBI has an excellent track record on this) as a component in follow-up operations plays a crucial work in the solution of a crime and the apprehension of its perpetrators. Here you have the public heaving a sigh of relief.

In any police operation, a persistent and relevant follow-up by law enforcement groups combines to put an end to a criminal case. When suspects “sing” (in police parlance), they unmask their mastermind and protectors, reveal their systematic operations, and pinpoint their lairs and safe-houses.