What a welcome back for Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso — mounds of trash and their stench. So he is at it again — going around the capital city and giving it a bath. Yes, he was up very early yesterday and posted about the “situation in Recto Avenue, Divisoria,” vowing to keep the cleanup going until the “kadugyutan” (filth) is gone.

Many of the newly sworn-in leaders, taking up the cudgels from their predecessors, may find some level of “dugyot” that would require a thorough rubdown, takedown or showdown. Any kind of dirt must go — that’s what the young and unforgiving electorate demand. They will not stand for any more rubbish.

For the city of Manila, it was the trash talked about to the tune of P950 million in unpaid bills, reports say. It was a problem that residents and visitors to the grand city could not unsee. The waste contractors had finally issued an ultimatum — pay up or we pack up. With a daily average of “2,000 metric tons of garbage,” this was a stinking problem Mayor Isko knew he had to deal with straightaway. Manila, he said, was in “a state of health emergency” a nearly billion-peso kind of emergency.

Finances seems to be the biggest issue that needs immediate tackling in our cities. In Pasig, reelected Mayor Vico Sotto is demanding that tax offenders pay up. Pay what you owe the nation and the city, he demanded. All may be forgiven, but first shell out the money.

In Cebu City, Mayor Nestor Archival Sr. rocked the “vote” with a historic landslide win on a campaign that promised “a people-centered administration rooted in transparency, accountability and long-term solutions.”

Long-term solutions probably resounded most with young ears, who have seen the years pass without much going forward.

These young mayors are part of over 18,000 elected officials who have assumed their posts this week. That chunk of the voting population made up of the youth will no doubt have their eyes wide open and their ears to the ground for any foul-ups or reneging on promises made during the campaign.

DAILY TRIBUNE will be among those watching them too. In fact, it was our eagle-eyed (and very annoyed Tondo resident) chief of reporters Raffy Ayeng who got fed up with the stinking problem in Manila who came out with an initial post on the matter.

So the paper I have been working for the past 25 years has turned 25 this year. It has been a watchdog of sorts too, asking the difficult questions, pursuing issues until an answer comes or action is done.

Change, certain as death and taxes, comes to all — from the texture of your hair to the thickness of the paper you are reading. We use all platforms available to us to share these stories and information that affect our lives.

These days, we need more information from credible sources than ever as we look ahead to a world much transformed. There is no need to change who you are, you only need to embrace the changes that will surely come. You will always be part of the change.