Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
(PUAD 3143)
By:
BPS 4-1
know if the ethical standards that were mandated were still adhered, this will be done by
showcasing some case studies that presents the behaviors of the public servants as they serve
the people, factors that affect the changes will also be presented as well as recommendations on
how public service will be made better. This objectives will be fulfilled as the paper will flow by
first, presenting timeframe that study will be using which is from year 2010 to 2018. This part will
also discuss the covered persons of the study which are the government employees or servants.
The sources of ethical standards, laws and mandates that public servants should adhere to will
also be discussed so as to know if there are changes in it on the said eight years. The next section
on the other hand, will showcase case studies presenting the famous cases of public servants
during 2010 to 2018, whether good or bad will be presented so as to check if they are adhering
or not to the given ethical standards. Furthermore, based on the case studies, the next section
will analyze the changes of behavior of the public servants, if there is any. The section will also
present the assumed factors of the changes made by the public servants. Additionally, the last
part will discuss the predicted future that awaits public service. This part will also offer some
suggestion to address the changing behavior and to redress the grievances by offering some
This section claims that this paper would only be covering those who are covered of the laws
that will be mentioned. This paper will only be using case studies during year 2010 to 2018 so as
to give the fresh data and analysis related to the topic, however it will still use scholarly articles
that are not are not young enough as long as it is related to the topic .
It has been evident that the Philippines as a country that wishes to forward the rights of every
individual, this can be reflected on the fact that it has provided laws mandates and standards for
each of its constituents to adhere and which they can also use for them to be morally upright so
as to protect the moral of others as well. One proof to this is that the country thereon has provided
laws on how public servants will be as pleasing as they can be, this is in accordance of their
slogan “Gawing lingkod bayani ang bawat kawani”. This basically means that the government
aims to make their servants serve like heroes. Few of those laws are the Republic Act 9485 or
the "Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007" but was amended and turned to be Republic Act “11032” also
known as “Ease of Doing Business Act” and the Republic Act 6713 or the “Code of Conduct and
Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees" both of which were still used in this present
times.
The Republic Act 9485 also known as the "Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007" but was amended and
turned to be Republic Act “11032” also known as “Ease of Doing Business Act” aims to mitigate
the suffering of the Filipino citizens from the procedures that are very much complicated, they are
also time- consuming and officials sometimes even require things that are not necessary, thus
this act punishes and violators and fixers of the said act so as to assure that the Filipino citizens
would be able to experience an efficient transaction with any government official. This is also
beneficial to the official as it escapes him from turning into an unethical servant. It is also worthy
of noting that this act require all government agencies to adhere to it, it also provides the
processes that the government services should follow. One notable part of this act is that one of
the sections thereon mandates to establish a feedback mechanism, in this instance, servants
would be able to assess if they are doing good or not. Penalties so as to teach the servants a
On the other hand, the Republic Act 6713 also known as the “Code of Conduct and Ethical
Standards for Public Officials and Employees” which exactly include the aim “to promote a high
standard of ethics in public service. Public officials and employees shall at all times be
accountable to the people and shall discharge their duties with utmost responsibility, integrity,
competence, and loyalty, act with patriotism and justice, lead modest lives, and uphold public
interest over personal interest.” This act prohibits the public officials and employees to “have
financial and material interest, own, control, manage or accept employment as officer, employee,
consultant, counsel, broker, agent, trustee or nominee in any private enterprise regulated,
supervised or licensed by their office, engage in the private practice of their profession,
recommend any person to any position, disclose confidential information, and solicit or accept
gifts”. On the other hand, the said act reminds them of their duties to “act promptly on letters and
requests, submit annual performance reports, process documents and papers expeditiously, act
immediately on the public's personal transactions, and make documents accessible to the public”.
Several commentaries including opinions from articles of the mainstream media often
highlights that the penalties of these ethical standards are beneficial as it actually correct and
prevent public officials and employees from wronging their performances as workers. On the other
hand, it has been always prevalent that the public look to these kind of mandates as useless since
they had this notion that it is always easy for the said involved people thereon to hide their
unpleasing acts especially when they have their allies inside and outside the workplace while
some are in support of improving the acts mentioned above so as to make it a better basis for the
servants to be so called as “ethical”. In connection to this, the next section is about present case
studies which probably became the basis of the citizens on their views regarding the ethical
Looking at the Philippines today, it can be observed that its public service has faced and has
been facing which was primarily made possible by the officials and employee. It can be seen that
instead of making public service an agent to advance the interest of public sector, the private
sector became the highly favoured. Having mentioned this kind of instance, people also tend to
stop trusting the public servants. This case also made the public resort to another preference
which is asking for help and also supporting civil societies who have been very vocal that the
public service has failed the Filipino people. Another challenge which is really obvious and is
making the country suffer for a very long time is the problem brought by graft and corruption,
these first two examples has always been related since corruption begets betrayal of public trust.
(Brillantes et al., 2011). Issues like this never fail to make the public think that public officials and
prestigious university with numerous awards but are still incapable of distinguishing right and
wrong, not to mention famous names in the government who are also famous for committing
On the other hand, it can also be learned by just looking at the news how public officials and
employees failed to follow the ethical standards set by the legislations. An example to this is the
issue regarding public officials who have conflict of interest as they always include their personal
life and businesses on any of their endeavours in the playing field. Even the simplest adherence
to the prohibition of soliciting and accepting gifts from other individuals can be seen as hard policy
However, in the midst of all the controversies in the public service, there are still “ethical”
persons who strive with passion as they serve the people. In the daily news and social media
posts, people can still hear and read pieces of information regarding some employees who did
simple kind of good deeds like helping those senior citizens, persons with disabilities and others
who are also in need. There also simple but remarkable cases such as returning lost things to the
owner, there are also news about someone who offered extra help without asking for payment
and the fact that there are servants who receive award also portray that the “gawing lingkod
An article about public servants who were examples of those who are still living up to the
ethical standards in public service was published by a news agency in the country (Rappler.com).
In the said article, the story of Reg Onglao, an employee of Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) was presented. It was stated there that Onglao was able help herself to be
aware of the social issues and help others by doing her best in field of public service while also
continuing to inspire and help people as she also do help people out of her job, truly she is an
The article also featured story of an employee from the Department of Budget and
Management (DBM) who proudly shared that she never had this so called “backer” in the said
government agency and was hired due to her “qualification and competencies”. She is Michelle
Gaurino, who can be regarded as one of those who keeps on adhering to one of the principles of
the public service which is to do their duty with utmost honesty while putting aside their personal
interests.
A story related to the mandate of the government for the public employees to be of great
competencies was also tackled by sharing the case of Elsa Agustin from the Department of
Finance (DoF). Agustin has been doing her job in accordance to the principle of giving her best
so as to help the public by formulating tax policies, providing officials the technical advices that
they need, and by represent the mentioned agency on congressional public hearings and inter-
Aaron Lataba of the Department of Finance (DoF) as well was also featured on the said article.
His story of adhering to the ethical standard of serving the public for their betterment was tackled
by sharing that people should never neglect the sacrifices of employees like him as they work
In this section, it is worthy of noting that the Philippine public service is a very diverse playing
field since there are a lot of officials and employees with diverse personalities and attitudes as
some of them can be perceived as moral, while some are immoral. Those who are moral are also
diverse in a sense that they also have different ways of orientating themselves to the other people,
they may have different ways but at the end of the day, all of them were able distinguish right from
wrong, able to adhere to the laws and were able to prove that there are still ethical public servants.
It can also be observed that they are also changing since some part of this paper showcased that
public service started as being perceived as trustworthy but is now thought as a field that should
not be supported. However, it can also be noted that there are still those who cannot forward to
be morally upright and in relation to this, the next section wishes to discuss the reasons behind
their diverse and changing ways of portraying their jobs as public servants.
Since it has been learned from the previous part that the public service in the Philippines is
diverse and changing, this section will present the study of Alan Lawton entitled “Public Service
Ethics in the Changing World”. In the said study, the author cited another author (Hood) and listed
his suggested seven dimensions that changes the delivery of public service, seven of which are:
Having mentioned these seven dimensions, it is easy to point out that the changing behaviors
of those who are in the public service were actually brought by the increasing pressure of this
changing society. These expectations pushes some of them to strive more to please the people
that they serve, however at some point, these dimension which also pressure them results on the
On the other hand, the same article offered another assumption on why and how the
behaviors of the public servants changes. The first one is that the changes brought by the
changing structures led to rise of other organizations which caused overlapping of works in the
field of public service. Another reason is that the rise of these organizations also caused to
creating new other partners, thus making these public servants confused on their purposes and
functions (Lawton, 2005). In this case, their confusions led them to have different types of
accountability depending on the behaviors that they portray. In connection to this, the article also
Source: Lawton, A. (2005). Public service ethics in a changing world. Futures, 37(2-3), 231-243.
The table simply present that given the fact that the behaviors of the public officials change,
they also exist together with the other officials who also possess a different kind of attitude.
Following the previous assumptions mentioned, this can be explained by saying that when the
environment changes, behaviors of employees also changes in a diverse manner (Lawton, 2005).
On the other hand, the study also presented a data lowered into the individual level so as to
know if they had a big impact on the changing behaviors in public service as the society also
changes. The study used the exact following questions on the said study:
Lawton in his article answered the first question by stating that individuals or private
citizens are not directly becoming less virtuous but they are continuously lowering their regards
to the politicians and are now not that engaging on government- related activities.
On the other hand, he answered the second question by sharing that the said officials are
still trying to be virtuous in pursuit of the aim to protect the rights of the citizens as they serve
them, and in connection to this, he otherwise answered that public officials are expected to be
virtuous since it is his nature as a public official to use his learnings on public administration
Going on to the final question, it can be seen that the author answered it by telling that the
changes in the behavior of public servants cannot be directly affected by the private citizens since
there are boundaries that separate them, given the fact that the end of the day the public officials
are ought to behave in a legalistic manner while the private ones behave as if they have to protect
The author concluded by presenting a diagram below entitled “The interplay of ethical
values”
Source: Lawton, A. (2005). Public service ethics in a changing world. Futures, 37(2-3), 231-243.
The table presented entails the idea that spheres in ethical values and the imbalance on
the presented dimensions may lead to change of the ethical behaviors. On the other hand, the
author also presented a table on the concluding part of the study which contains the causes of
ethical behavior.
Source: Lawton, A. (2005). Public service ethics in a changing world. Futures, 37(2-3), 231-243.
The table presents the requisites that will lead to the balance of the four dimensions so as to
mitigate change of ethical behaviors into unethical ones. The author briefly explained the table by
suggesting that:
“To be moral is to exercise discretion and judgment.. By “act ethically”, we mean
that public administrators who adopt our integrated stance will internalise a perspective that
comprehends the ethical and technical aspects of their duties and obligations, and that
enables them to express, reflect and advocate normative concerns in both management and
policy. ”
The said quotation implies that it is still the person or the public servant who has the final
decision to be ethical or unethical, there may be factors that affect their behaviors but they still
have the chance of choosing what to do or not to do. At the end of the day, they are have been
The former part of this paper was able to present the ethical standards that should be adhered,
the stories of Filipino public servants and their diverse and changing behaviors and the theories
behind their changing and diverse behaviors in a changing society. It can be gleaned that the
Philippines was able to provide for mandates so as the people in the public service will be
informed of the attributes that they should possess and the duties that they are entitled to
accomplish. Additionally, it can be learned that public officials have their own behaviors, but they
vary on a note that some of them have ethical behaviors while some have unethical ones plus
their behaviors are also changing as they turn into ethical to unethical or vice versa. Furthermore,
those behaviors were actually brought about by the pressure as they were expected to offer a lot,
they also change their behavior due to the fact that the society is changing and the dimensions
that affect them directly and indirectly are also changing. In connection to this, it was initially
suggested that there should be a balance to these dimensions so that there will be a harmonious
relationship plus a great effect to each of them by making them “ethical”. On the other hand, the
next part of this paper will showcase different suggestions from other studies so as to improve
the Philippine public servants and so as to make them servants who live up to the mandates that
First article on the list is the article of Dwividi, entitled “Public Service Ethics in a Globalised
World”. In this article, he suggested that general propositions on how public service would be a
better field. He first stressed the importance of public officials with conscience since it is the spirit
that drives officials to be of great service to their public duty. He also insisted that Public Servants
should possess a caring behavior since it can be linked to the notion of promoting common good.
Another suggestion that the author offered is that public servants should be educated that they
the main reason of their belongingness to the field is none other than serving. On the other hand,
they should also defeat the notion of “ethical deficit” or the act of paying an extra sum just to
receive so as to receive another service from an official, which is actually contrary to the principles
of public service. The last one is to reward the leadership of the servants which are ethical so as
The next article is entitled “Ethics and leadership skills in the public service” of Sonia Haq
The table presents that through possessing the mentioned leadership skills, enhanced
ethics will be achieve, thus reducing the risks of unethical behavior. For example, by having the
technical skills, servants would also be able to be transparent, accountable, responsive and
create a rule of law. Another example that the table presents is that having social intelligence
produces a servant who is fair and compassionate enough. Intrapersonal skills on the other hand
can be enabling tool for them to create values that are morally upright, while emotional intelligence
equates to the fact of possessing impartiality, integrity and the attribute of advocating the
advancement of public interest. Lastly, conceptual skills can be a great weapon for them to come
up with an ethical decision making that will resolve ethical dilemmas, thus making them reliable.
In short, having these leadership skills causes one to possess the attitude of discernment of
Bibliography and Overview Essay” by Elizabeth Gunn, the article served a reminder that “public
interest” is the “supreme ethic or value” of public service. In accordance to this, he author also
importance of the organizational values together with ethical codes and legislations was also
highlighted, in connection to this educating the bureaucrats was also suggested on how attain the
Brillantes et al. started his paper entitled “Restoring Trust and Building Integrity in the
Government: Issues and Concerns in the Philippines and Areas For Reform”. The quote emerged
since it has been evident that public trust has been continuing to lower. The said article can be
considered the most unique of all those that were mentioned before since it offers reformation of
Source: Brillantes Jr, A. B., & Fernandez, M. T. (2011). RESTORING TRUST AND BUILDING INTEGRITY
IN GOVERNMENT: ISSUES AND CONCERNS IN THE PHILIPPINES AND AREAS FOR REFORM. International
believed that the only way to regain this trust in order to rescue public service is through this which
orientates the field as a new one. The figure above proposes a vision that reformation that will
paradigms and behavior will also beget a strong leadership and political will thus advancing active
citizen engagement”.
The pieces of information mentioned above are indeed beneficial, however they are still
hard to do and are somehow idealistic, but if only the Philippine public service is enthusiastic
enough to start following the steps, little by little, the country would probably be experiencing a
better service that it deserve while its officials are adhering to the ethical standards that make
Brillantes Jr, A. B., & Fernandez, M. T. (2011). RESTORING TRUST AND BUILDING INTEGRITY
Dwivedi, O.P (2011). Public Service Ethics in a globalised world: the duty to serve and
Gunn, E.M (1981). Ethics and the Public Service: An Annotated Bibliography and Overview
Haq, S. (2011). Ethics and leadership skills in the public service. Procedia-Social and Behavioral
Lawton, A. (2005). Public service ethics in a changing world. Futures, 37(2-3), 231-243.
Olivan, Daniel (2016, May 03). Working in the government: Stories from the frontline.
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