Drug test, moral recovery program for gov’t officials

“To give real service you must add something which cannot be bought or measured with money, and that is sincerity and integrity.” Douglas Adams

By Alex P. Vidal

City hall and provincial capitol should not only require their respective officials and employees to undergo a mandatory drug test, but to also compel them to complete a seminar on moral recovery program.

If we hope to rid government offices with illegal drug dependents and unscrupulous characters, we must also ensure that they are morally fit to hold or work in a public office. Public servants should be the epitome of efficiency and sincerity in the delivery of basic services to the taxpayers.

If we squirm on reports that some government officials or employees are sometimes involved in illegal drugs and are arrested in police raids, we also find it distasteful to tolerate those implicated in sex scandal and other sins against moral turpitude. Especially when government properties are used in commission of trysts.

DISHONESTY

As to issue about dishonesty, we all know that nobody walks a saint in government service. Once tempted, almost everyone involved in the disbursement of public funds and those who have direct access on the coffers can be a potential thief, in one way or the other.

Almost every department is graft-ridden. The system itself is rotten and anticlimactic, to say the least. Before anyone is tempted, he or she is already tainted.

A moral regeneration program can help restore decency if not outright honesty in public service. Aside from possession of productive and useful ideas, we also need men and women in public service with strong moral and spiritual values.

BREAKDOWN

If thugs and undesirable characters are allowed in public offices, there will be a breakdown of discipline and trust and confidence. The practice of hiring mistresses and pimps as contractual workers should be minimized if not totally stopped. 

There are pimps who annex contractual jobs because of good relations with some appointing authorities.

Palakasan system due to political debts of gratitude and pre-election commitments should be nipped in the bud. Genuine and efficient services should never be compromised. Incompetence, roughness, and sloppy performance should be a no-no in public service.