Iloilo gov’t workers caught off guard in CSC surprise inspection

ILOILO CITY — The Civil Service Commission in Western Visayas (CSC6) is calling on public servants in Iloilo to improve their service delivery.

This, after Nelson Sarmiento, regional director of CSC 6, said CSC Commissioner Aileen Lizada has caught violations of some public servants at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol and Iloilo City Hall during a surprise inspection on Monday.

“Commissioner Lizada held an on-the-spot visit to check what is happening here in the agencies in Iloilo. She saw the practices that we can stop or improve, especially in the frontline services in the city and the province (of Iloilo),” Sarmiento said in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon.

The video footage of the CSC shows some windows unmanned at the Iloilo Provincial Treasurer’s Office during noon time despite the “no noon-break policy.”

One of its office desktops was reportedly logged in to an online shopping site. A public servant at the Iloilo City Hall, meanwhile, was caught busy on her mobile phone.

Police at the entrance of both the Iloilo Provincial Capitol and the Iloilo City Hall were also busy on their respective mobile phones while on duty.

“The purpose is not really meant as a punitive measure, that you will be dismissed or terminated, what’s important is it is a wake-up call for all public servants to improve the way of delivering public service,” Sarmiento added.

He said the CSC-6 already communicated with Iloilo Provincial Administrator lawyer Suzzette Mamon to “make them known of the practices so they can take appropriate action.”

The commission can look into measures to be done but the CSC-6 will respect the action to be undertaken by the heads of offices of the public servants concerned with the violation, he said.

“We will continue to have a direct line, talking with the heads. At their level, we will leave it to them. For us, we will be rendering technical assistance on whatever they need for the improvement of our government,” he assured.