IT IS not surprising anymore to hear horror stories of government officials and employees giving bad service to the Filipinos or whoever their clients may be.
Before, some of these government employees can get away with their bad service because it is not documented properly. For most of the time, it is their word against the complainants.
However, technology has increasingly helped the public capture these government employees who are not doing their job right.
Recently, a certain Janelyn R. Nilo posted on her Facebook account on March 28 an incident that happened at the Bureau of Immigration (BI) in Davao City.
Nilo questioned about the birthday celebration happening at the office. Employees of BI allegedly did not provide prompt service to their clients as they were celebrating. She said, "All of us were waiting for them to finish."
She also narrated how BI allegedly increased the visa extension fee of a foreign client. She pointed out that instead of answering their client's questions, BI employees told the guard to usher the client out.
Nilo’s post has garnered 245 reactions, 85 comments, and 230 shares as of April 8, 2019. SunStar Davao is still trying to get the side of the Bureau of Immigration regarding the incident.
This is not the first time BI's frontline services drew flak for the lack of good service towards their clients.
Government employees must be reminded that if they are in the service of the Filipinos, they should provide them the quality service they should get. In the first place, it is our taxes that pay your salary.
According to Republic Act (RA) 6713 or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, "public officials and employees shall at all times be accountable to the people and shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity, competence, and loyalty, act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives, and uphold public interest over personal interest."
Section 4(e) of the law states that "public officials and employees shall extend prompt, courteous, and adequate service to the public."
Section 5(d) also states that "all public officials and employees must attend to anyone who wants to avail himself of the services of their offices and must, at all times, act promptly and expeditiously."
Section 11 also clearly stated that any government official who is found violating the law will be punished.
President Rodrigo R. Duterte's administration has made a commitment to purge corrupt officials from the government. We all know that they are not all in the upper echelon, they have also infested the lower government positions. As Filipinos, if we want to help change the government, let us also help the government by getting rid of these bad apples by reporting them.
Should you experience bad service from our government officials or employees, you may file a complaint against them at the Civil Service Commission, Office of Ombudsman, and the Presidential Complaint Center. You can also report to Hotline 8888.