They're Not Cute by Claudio V. Tabotabo, MA (May, 2006)

Now is the time to reformat the system that regulates the services tendered by the government. There are waves of complaints and in the height of these waves, government employees remain unbending and uneducated-manhid sa hiya. Media had said so much on the shamelessness in the government offices; but employees are still there with their ugly faces. Even if lightning will strike them they will still remain unchanged.

We often hear people saying, maganda sa governo maraming beneficio, well if one wants to get rich he must not work as a government employee. He must do something that will take him to the end of the rainbow where there is a pot of gold.

Chance brought me to the Department of Education office and these are what I heard there from teachers conversing with each other, wala pa si ma'am ala una na, kanina pa akong alas 10 dito, nakakainis naman, the other one said, ako pangatlong balik ko na ito, hindi pa rin na permahan, Then a lady came out from office and said, balik na lang kayo wala si ma'am nasa city hall, balik na lang kayo bukas. Ayyyyyy, the sigh of the frustrated teachers.

There was a long file of teachers near the gate. I did not inquire about it but when I happened to see through the half-opened door, I saw that employees inside were playing scrabble. The other one was polishing the fingernails of her feet.

There were many people that came into the office bringing products from the Goldilocks Bakeshoppe. When I inquired about it, and my informant said that, those are given to the staff to insure prompt the transactions. My informant also said, "Come to my office and you will see them coming in at 10: 30 in the morning and they are out at 3:00 in the afternoon, but in the card it is 7:30 A.M. and 5:00 P.M."

It is now the habit of people working in the government. Lectures alone cannot eradicate it. Something monstrous will revolutionize the working habit in the government.

Some countries utilized the contractual basis of employment. This is the practice applied in the private sector of the Philippines. I only wonder why government intervenes in the private employment while the ugly employees in the government are left behind to wallow in the corrupt system.

Well something has to be said for the few government employees who work with diligence. But they are only very few in a bloated bureaucracy.