Service first

Yesterday, I chanced upon two employees of a popular food chain outside the doors of a provincial government office. They wanted to transact business but there was no one there but the guard. "The office is closed. The provincial employees are having their Christmas Party," the guard explained. The two food chain employees, idealistic young men, could hardly believe their ears. "A government office closes during office hours just because of a Christmas Party?" one asked the other.

Sad but true. That wasn't the only office closed for a Christmas party. As I asked around, I learned that closing an office to celebrate Christmas parties is a common practice in many government offices.

But that shouldn't be so. Two years ago, the Civil Service Commission came out with a memorandum for all government offices to remain open during office hours, even if they celebrate their Christmas parties.

It is not against the law to celebrate special occasions such as Christmas. But the bottom-line is for government agencies to ensure smooth and continuous delivery of public services amidst festivities.

CSC Chair Karina Constantino-David has correctly pointed out that festivities should never jeopardize public service.

The rule is that whether the party is held in or out of the office, there should be a skeletal staff to attend to clients and to ensure that delivery of services to the public would not be disrupted.

It must also be noted that closing a government office on a regular working day to give way to the holding of Christmas parties is against the law. Similarly, official work hours cannot be cut short to give way to parties because government working hours is set by law.

So the next time you see a government office which cannot render service simply because of a Christmas Party, you may write to the Civil Service Commission and tell them about it.

Not only would they owe the public some service, they would also owe everyone an explanation.*

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