President Rodrigo R. Duterte . PRESIDENTIAL PHOTOGRAPHERS DIVISION
One o’clock on the dot, government employees must be back to work from lunch—no extended breaks, no detour to the casinos.
President Rodrigo Duterte issued this warning last week, reminding civil servants that they are paid salaries from taxpayers’ money to work eight hours a day.
Failing that, they are “swindling” the people, the President said.
“Technically, when you are not there to serve the people and you ask them to come back repeatedly, you are committing estafa,” Mr. Duterte said, addressing government workers in Davao City on Friday night.
He said government employees who had the habit of extending their lunch breaks to take a trip to shopping malls and stay away from work would face dismissal from service.
“The rationale of our job is, we are paid by the people to work eight hours a day… So if you refuse the people, you are not in your office… after lunch break you are in the malls, walking around… if that happens again, I will dismiss you,” he said, noting the exclusion of barangay officials who go out to the communities to do field work.
Mr. Duterte said that once the 8888 hotline of the government is up and running, complaints against government employees will be immediately investigated.
He said he did not want taxpayers being made to go back repeatedly to government offices to secure permits or documents.
Those who plan to obtain government documents should be informed beforehand about the necessary requirements and advised on the pickup date, the President said.
The government office should also keep a logbook of requests so the employees in charge could estimate the date when the documents would be ready, he said.
Citing a recent letter to the editor of a newspaper where the writer complained about being given the runaround in a government office, he said he wanted the concerned agency to explain its side.
“I will call the particular employee there as well as his chief to explain why they should not be dismissed from government service,” he said.
Mr. Duterte also said he would ask Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. chief Andrea Domingo to ensure that government employees as well as their families would be denied entry in casinos.
“You’re in the government, you only earn a certain amount, why would you gamble?” he said.
Memorandum Circular No. 8 issued by Malacañang in 2001 prohibits heads of agencies and departments from going to or playing in casinos.
Presidential Decree No. 1067-B as amended by Presidential Decree No. 1869 also states that officials connected directly with the operation of the government or any of its agencies are not allowed to play in casinos.
The same goes for members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, including the Army, Navy, Air Force, and the police.
As of 2012, there are 1.41 million government employees nationwide, according to data from the Philippine Statistics Authority. With a report from Inquirer Research/TVJ
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