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Saturday, September 27, 2003
Cordillera tops civil service awards
By Ramon Dacawi
NOTWITHSTANDING perception on the extent of corruption in the government, Cordillera stands tall among the country's 16 regions when it comes to outstanding public servants.
Since 1988, a year after the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) was established, government workers in the highlands have figured prominently in the national "Lingkod Bayan", "Dangal ng Bayan" and "Pag-asa" awards annually bestowed on outstanding civil servants by Civil Service Commission (CSC).
As gleaned from CSC records, there were 127 "Lingkod" awardees from 1988 to 2002. The National Capital Region (NCR), which has the most number of government workers and therefore, the widest base of selection, had the most number with 32 honorees.
The region came in second with 17, followed by Region IV with 16 while each of the 13 other regions have yet to reach a double figure in the number of awardees.
In the "Dangal" roster for the same period, NCR had 42 out of 161 awardees. The Cordillera ranked second with 24 awardees followed by Region IV with 18, Region X with 12 and Region V with 11.
Of the 99 individual and group winners of the "Pag-asa" award, also from 1988 to 2002, NCR captured 38 slots followed by Regions XI and II with nine each and the Cordillera trailing closely with eight.
During this Civil Service Month, CSC Regional Director Dolores Bonifacio noted the high-batting average of the region, even if there were no Cordillera winners this year.
Last year, the Cordillera had two among the 12 "Lingkod" awardees - nurse Elena Tampican of the Luis Hora Memorial Regional Hospital in Bauko, Mt. Province and Prof. Danilo Falgui of the Kalinga Apayao State College.
Among last year's 10 "Dangal" awardees was Sr. Jail Officer Basilio Saking of the Baguio City Jail. Preceding him in 2001 was officemate, JO1 Vilma Fangsilat who was cited for her painstaking work in organizing the local prison's files for easy access and retrieval.
Likewise, the world-famous under-five clinic of the Baguio General Hospital led by Dr. Esther Miranda made it to the 2002 "Pag-asa" award.
The clinic, founded and developed by Dr. Natividad Clavano, is recognized by the World Health Organization (WHO) as a pioneer model in child and maternal care.
High school principal Genera Buenafe of Abra won the "Lingkod" plum in 1992.
In local governance, the "Lingkod" recipients include Mayor Thomas Killip of Sagada, Mt. Province and former city Mayor and now Rep. Mauricio Domogan.
Domogan was honored in 1995 for steering the city back on its feet and beyond after the 1990 earthquake devastation. Killip was cited for his work in making Sagada a model "peace zone," protecting its environment and inspiring volunteerism by blending traditional community values in governance.
BGHMC Nurse Perseveranda Acoba joined the list in 1998 for her pioneering use of herbal medicine long before the Department of Health officially advocated its use.
With her in the batch were regional trade and industry director Armando Galimba, Dr. Edwin Balaki of the Benguet State University, Barangay Captain Victor Baculi of Luplupa, Tinglayan, Kalinga and "Dangal" awardee Julian Bacnog.
The citation for Bacnog, a utility worker at the Ifugao College of Arts and Trades, said in part: "He has consistently shown a ready willingness to serve and undertake other tasks beyond the call of his regular duties such as taking on the risky work as watchman without additional compensation."
Ifugao Gov. Teddy Baguilat got his "Dangal" citation in 1996, in the company of midwife Agustina Bagwan of Bontoc, Mt. province and utility worker Carlos Corpuz of the Philippine Military Academy.
Specially moving were the "Dangal" awards presented posthumously to three health workers -- nurse Rosario Magala and midwife Elena Buenafe, both of Abra, and midwife Teresita Dodon of Sablan, Benguet.
Sometime in 1993, Magala and Buenafe were on their way to immunize children and distribute iodine capsules to remote barangay when they were swept by strong currents while crossing a swollen river.
That same year, Dodon was coming home later after a whole day immunizing children in far-flung barangays when she figured in a vehicular accident.
"As she lay dead on the road, she was still protectively clutching the vaccines and medical paraphernalia, the tools of the trade she loved so much," the honor citation noted.
And who says there are no honest workers in government? In 1997, John Marque, an engineer with the public works and highways office found and returned a bag containing P1.03 million. He refused to receive a reward.
Four years earlier, school clerk Francisca Bayle of Abra also received the "Dangal" for returning P20,000 in overpayment for a check she encashed and for helping save P43,000 after auditing the financial ledgers of her office.
(September 27, 2003 issue)
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