"PUBLIC service is a full time commitment. It is internalization of the needs of the people. For me, it’s more of an apostolate because it is beyond the 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. working hour. It's apostolate because we're dealing with the poor."
Thus said Lorna V. Raza, development management officer III-supervising coordinator for Davao City of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor-Field Operations Division for Mindanao.
Raza is now on her 25th year in public service and was part of the pioneering employee of the agency which was established in 1987 in the region of Mindanao. Currently, she is he chairperson of the ESLA Cooperative, a cooperative of the PCUP employees and the board secretary of the Patches of Green Mindanao Foundation, Inc.
Being poor is not unfamiliar to her. Born in Davao City on December 7, 1955 as the youngest of five siblings, she lost her father when she was just a baby nine months old.
Life was tough and challenging for the young Lorna, but this didn't hinder her from achieving medals and recognition.
Raza attended elementary at Teodoro Palma Gil Elementary School and graduated on 1968 while her high school years were spent in Davao City High School, now known as the Davao City National High School and graduated as the class valedictorian, Declamator of the year.
The woes in her life didn't stop. Raza's tertiary level was spent at the University of Mindanao taking up Banking and Finance. She was a working student back then but this did not prevent her from excelling in class.
She finished cum laude. Her eagerness to learn more didn't stop after college, so after years of working, she took up her post graduate course at the University of Southeastern Philippines for an MS on Urban Management and Finance. She graduated in 1996.
Raza said that the values of commitment and generosity allowed her to understand the situation of the urban poor. She said that understanding the situation and life of the poor people is probably one of the reasons why so many public servants perform beyond their duties.
"Because we look at the poor not as a job but as persons who need many things and needs that cannot be satisfied. It is a never ending need that you have to respond to," she said.
In her 25 years of public service, she never expected of gifts nor cash in return. She never asked anything in return but the smile drawn on the faces of the poor people she had extended her hand will always be greater than the tangible items wrapped in fancy paper. A "thank you" coming from the lips of the oppressed, of the needy, of the of the aggrieved will always be her greatest achievement which she will cherish as she leave the office of the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor.
As Raza leaves office two years from now, she will still serve the poor by committing herself to two foundations: the Patches of Green Mindanao Foundation Inc. and Assumption Parish Socio-Economic Development Foundation Inc. (Apsed) which also deals with assisting poor families in the city.
Raza is presently on leave as board of trustee member of the Apsed.
"The service to the poor will not stop beyond my official function, so I will still continue serving the poor," Raza said.