Smile, the public is watching

Governor Gwen Garcia’s “bawal ang nakasimangot” order to Capitol employees is a good move considering that government offices have a reputation of being unfriendly to clients. Greeting the transacting public with a smile is a good start to improve services at the Capitol.

The campaign to make government offices client friendly is not new. The Civil Service Commission has long campaigned for client friendly government offices through its “Mamamayan Muna, Hindi Mamaya Na” campaign. Launched in 1994, the campaign was aimed at minimizing if not totally eradicating discourtesy, arrogance and inefficiency in the public service. Despite this, however, there are still government offices that remain unfriendly.

There are still government employees who talk to clients in a harsh manner that you will think you are being scolded. There are also others who tell clients to wait for a while because they are still attending to something and then ignore you completely. Still, there are also government employees who give clients the runaround, constantly pointing to someone else in the office as the one in charge for whatever it is that the client is following up.

I was a victim to this kind of service just last week. I have been visiting a government agency since mid-2005 to follow up on my copy of an educational plan that my mother provided for my child. The educational plan was originally intended for my brother but was assigned to my child when my brother left for the US in 2005.

I went through the normal process of requesting for documents. I wrote to the agency asking for directions on what to do and who to approach. Being in the media, I was really tempted to go to the agency’s head so that I could get the document I needed without the hassles of waiting but I decided to go through the normal process because I thought it would be unfair to senior citizens who frequent the said agency to follow up on their pensions or loans. I also thought it would not take long for the agency to give me a copy of the educational plan. I was wrong. It took me over two years to get a copy of the document I needed, and only after I complained to the agency’s manager in Manila!

There are other government agencies and offices that give their clients a hard time. Maybe the Civil Service Commission should think of a program that will educate government employees that they owe their jobs and their salaries to the people and that the people deserve to be treated well. Government agencies dealing with clients should also be trained on the best customer service rule that “the customer is always right.”

I have not tried transacting with any of the offices at the Capitol but I sure would like to visit its offices one of these days to check if employees are following the governor’s order. A smiling Capitol employee does not necessarily mean getting the best service but it’s a start. So Capitol employees, get those pearly whites ready. Smile, the public is watching.

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