P-Noy as chief bureaucrat

I finally get to ask President Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III on his rather unique way of giving a handshake. The opportunity popped up while I was at Malacañang Palace last Friday to attend the awarding ceremonies for this year’s Outstanding Public Servants.

Yours truly was invited to the Palace gathering because I was one of the members of the panel of judges along with former Labor Secretary Nieves Confesor and former Finance Undersecretary Milwida Guevarra in the Search for the 2010 Outstanding Public Officials and Employees.

And since it was a formal Palace function, President Aquino did more a lot of handshaking not only with guests and other officials but most especially with the winners of this year’s Civil Service Commission (CSC) Search for Outstanding Public Servants, too. Unconsciously, P-Noy has a distinctive mannerism of placing his left hand over his abdomen every time he gives a handshake.

At the end of the awarding rites, I was able to buttonhole President Aquino at the Palace grounds after the usual “ambush interview” with him by the Malacañang Press Corps.

“It’s just my mannerism,” P-Noy quipped when I asked him about his manner of handshaking. Now we know.

If there is one thing that I think excites P-Noy is the chance to highlight his goals and visions on good governance for the Philippines. This I sensed when the Chief Executive quietly stood onstage while joining the opening prayer led by Col. Lope C. Dagoy, an infantry battalion commander of the Philippine Army, who was one of the winners of the 2010 Presidential or Lingkod Bayan Award.

In his prayer, Dagoy said, “Grant us strength and fortitude that as we perform our tasks, we may always be reminded that public service is both a privilege and a responsibility and that as state workers, we are bound to provide responsive, accessible, courteous and effective service.

“Let Your Spirit guide us to the right direction, up the righteous and at times unpopular path. May we serve without thinking of financial or material reward and personal comfort but put premium on that which would benefit our people most.

Father, we pray that as this ceremony honors the heretofore unsung heroes of the bureaucracy, may You continue to guide our leaders and make our civil servants realize not just their role in the day-to-day operation of government but as agents of positive change in the bureaucracy so that we bring back pride in public service and regain people’s trust in government. These we ask in Your Name, Amen.”

Dagoy, by the way, was also one of the winners in 2009 of the Metrobank Foundation’s annual search for Outstanding Soldiers.

Observing him from the front row where I sat at the Palace’s Rizal Hall, I could see P-Noy, his eyes closed, nodding his head in obvious agreement with Dagoy’s prayer. Before he gave his own remarks, he asked for the indulgence of foreign dignitaries present at the ceremonies that he would speak in Tagalog to better send across his message to the Filipino people.

At the outset, P-Noy sought to point out that this annual award giving to government workers was started by the administration of his mother, former President Corazon Aquino. It was during her term when Republic Act 6713, otherwise known as the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees, set the norms of conduct for all government workers and the conferment of awards to deserving public servants. This law instituted the highest state honor of Presidential or Lingkod Bayan Award, the CSC Pagasa Award, and the Outstanding Public Official/Employee or Dangal ng Bayan Award.

P-Noy vowed to continue his late mother’s legacy to the Philippine bureaucracy and to work hard that the day would come when Filipinos would be “taas-noo” or proud to call himself or herself a public servant.

Digressing from his prepared speech at the awarding rites, P-Noy lamented that serving in the Philippine government has lost its luster through the years amid scandals and corruption involving top bureaucrats. Without making any direct reference, P-Noy blamed it on the culture of leadership that weakened the country’s bureaucracy. “Pag nagsalita na ang Diyos, wala nang kokontra,” P-Noy rued.

Although he did not mention it, P-Noy was apparently making a dig at former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s widely known temper to berate in public any errant Cabinet members and other government officials. For obvious fear of being publicly shamed, no one among her officials dared to contradict her.

P-Noy promised to lead the 1.4 million-strong government workforce to the “straight and narrow path” using the so-called “carrot-and-stick” approach, or reward and punishment system, to strengthen the bureaucracy. To do this, the President declared his full intentions to work closely with the CSC, if only to put in place the environment to inspire and encourage honest public servants.

He was dismayed though to find out that the CSC’s cash prizes to the group winners — some of them composed of more than 10 individuals — would have to be equally divided among themselves. Both individual and group winners of the Presidential or Lingkod Bayan Award and Dangal ng Bayan Award were given a cash prize of P100,000 and an automatic one-step promotion, plus a presidential plaque and trophy, respectively. For the CSC Pagasa Award, the winner received P50,000 in cash, whether individual or group, plus a presidential medal.

An aghast President Aquino lamented as unfair giving lower cash prizes as reward to deserving hard-working government employees. He ordered Presidential Management Staff chief Julia Abad to consult the Department of Budget and Management to rectify the situation by looking for funds in this year’s budget so that each of the members of the group winners would get the full cash prize.

Saying he is a bachelor anyway, P-Noy offered whatever would remain of his P95,000 monthly salary for this year to augment the balance if the funds available in the budget still fall short. Actually, P-Noy’s take-home pay as the country’s chief bureaucrat would just amount to P63,000 a month after tax and other deductions.