Government personnel should be courteous and respectful
I have been in government service for 20 years, practically a quarter of my whole life. And I hate to write these, which do not speak well of the quality of public service nowadays and long before. I do not indict the high officials who smile a lot and banter with the ‘’hoi polloi’’ on TV or over the radio. They are the great pretenders who cannot be accused of discourtesy or disrespect. They were trained in public relations and customer relations, so they are not our usual suspects. They have social graces and try hard to be amiable, especially if the cameras are on them. Lest I will be misunderstood, the observations below have exceptions. Today, there are really excellent civil servants across all ranks and agencies in the bureaucracy.
As a lawyer, I met many clients who are bent to file administrative and criminal charges against dishonest, insincere, impolite and disrespectful government employees and officers. I received some complaints against judges, arbiters and regional directors who allegedly did not treat people with respect, regardless of status in life, and who discriminated people on account of their gender, race, religion or political affiliations. I know that most of these stories are over-dramatized, but some are true.
There are security guards who are arrogant and over-bearing as if they own the whole buildings, treating people as if they are mendicants and thieves. These guards should be taught basic courtesy and respect. There are clerks who make you feel you are a burden to them as if your taxes did not pay their salaries. There are others who make you wait until forever because the boss is still having a siesta or have a Facebook chat with lovers and friends. There are secretaries who are more strict and unapproachable than the arrogance of their bosses. There are public servants who act as if they are your masters, and you have to wait in long lines just to see their incompetent superiors.
There are officials who report for work at 10, take a long lunch break at 12, come back at 3 and go home at 4. The queue of people who want to see them are relegated to their subordinates, some of whom do not have the authority or competence, or both. The public is made to come back, red tapes still around, and people in government do not have any sense of urgency and respect for those who are in urgent need of service. Thus, people are forced to go to Tulfo, Failon or Taberna because government functionaries are not doing their job as they vowed in their oaths of office.
Again, there are many who are good, honest, and sincere. But their numbers are dwindling, and most of them are forgotten in promotions and rewards. If I tell the president all these, he would just tell me: “Sampalin Mo,” and I am afraid I may be tempted to do just that. But on second thought, I would rather not. These are not problem people, they are people with problems.
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