MANILA, Philippines?Mario Yango, retired civil service commissioner and former Philippine representative to the International Civil Service Commission, died on June 29 at the Manila Doctors Hospital surrounded by his family. He was 84.

He is survived by his wife, Pilar Benigno, (first wife, Edelmira Poblete died in 2002); daughter Cynthia Yango-Eugenio; sons Jaime and Mario Jr.; son-in-law Rene Eugenio and daughters-in-law Adora De Ramos and Levi Cello; nine grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.

A graduate of the Ateneo College of Law in 1952, Commissioner Yango started as a mere clerk, rose from the ranks through merit and retired as commissioner after 39 years of uninterrupted service. Yango was known and beloved for his hard work, efficiency, and most of all honesty.

Yango established standards and guidelines and chaired an interagency body to pass requirements for exempting Civil Service positions from eligibility requirements. This was one way of avoiding unscrupulous politicians from skirting the eligibility requirement in appointing their protégés in government.

Upon his retirement from the Civil Service Commission in 1991, he was elected to the International Civil Service Commission (ICSC), which is responsible for making recommendations to the General Assembly of the United Nations for the regulation of agencies that participate in the UN common system.

Long after retirement from these capacities, Yango continued to help government employees with eligibility issues as well as securing employment in government offices. Untiring in all these endeavors, Yango often said that his job didn?t pay much but it was ennobling.