ILOILO City – The unannounced inspection by Civil Service Commission (CSC) chairperson Aileen Lizada at the Iloilo provincial capitol and city hall on Monday caught employees by surprise.
It also led to the discovery of shortcomings that the provincial government and city government must address to improve frontline services, according to CSC Region 6 director Nelson Sarmiento.
Lizada showed up at the capitol around noon on Sept. 2. No one was manning five windows of the Provincial Treasurer’s Office despite the “no noon break” policy, said Sarmiento.
“One computer ay nasa online shopping,” he revealed.
A policeman detailed at the capitol was also caught watching video on his mobile phone.
At city hall, Lizada caught a security guard watching television.
“Hindi
naka-focus kung sin-o ang dumadaan kasi nanonood ng volleyball,” said
Sarmiento.
According to the regional CSC director, many capitol and city hall employees
were also not wearing identification cards (ID).
“Hindi namin makilala kung sino ang empleyado o hindi kasi walang ID,” he lamented.
There were undesirable practices that must stop, Sarmiento stressed, and frontline services must be improved.
Among other suggestions, he said the Iloilo capitol and city hall should come up with guidelines on the employees’ use of mobile phones “particularly ‘yong mga nasa frontline offices.”
Sarmiento said Lizada’s visit was a wakeup call to local authorities to improve their services.
He also said the CSC would leave it to the provincial government and city government to act on the shortcomings that Lizada discovered.
“We will defer to the judgment of the head of office, the governor and city mayor,” Sarmiento stressed./PN
