BAGUIO CITY, Sunday March 13 – Civil Service Commission (CSC) chairman Francisco Duque III made a surprise inspection of some government frontline agencies after serving as the guest speaker in the CSC-led Women’s Forum here Friday.

Among the offices Duque visited were the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), National Bureau of Investigation (NBI), Professional Regulation Commission (PRC), Land Transportation Office (LTO), and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

During the surprise inspections, Duque noted that most of the agencies he visited have violations, pertaining to CSC guidelines, Citizen’s Charter, and on the Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA). Duque also interviewed some clients of the various agencies.

At his visit to the LTO Office around noon, Duque caught the agency not following the “No noon break policy and on his interview with clients, there were those who complained that the LTO office closes all transactions as early as 11:00 am and only resumes operations at 1:00 pm. Other infractions included no Citizen’s Charter placed in their transaction areas and anti-fixer campaign posters.

At the GSIS and NBI offices, Duque also noted that there were no citizen’s charter posted, absence of the anti-fixer signages, and lack of personnel during noon time.

In relation to the numerous complaints the CSC has been receiving from the clientele of GSIS, Duque also challenged branch manager Veronica Perez to measure up to the expectations of their clients, as they are receiving among the highest salaries among all government agencies.

On the other hand, Duque lauded the Professional Regulation Commission which he observed to have satisfactorily met the requirements set by the Commission.

In a separate interview, CSC OIC regional director Fernando Porio affirmed that Duque, in line with the commission's mandate to improve public service, is regularly doing surprise inspections on government agencies, especially those agency with heavy clientele.

Porio bared he was instructed by Duque to do similar on-the-spot inspections as Duque wants it regionalized. “Hindi lang naman regulatory ang trabaho ng CSC, we also help agencies improve their services through trainings as part of our Service Delivery Excellence Program,” Porio said.

Porio also stressed that it is also part of the mandate of each government offices or government owned corporation/institution, to police their own rank. “Sa tingin ko hindi din naman magandang proseso na ang CSC pa ang laging magre-regulate sa kanila,” he added.

To further improve the delivery of service of the different government agencies, the CSC is now also using the Report Card Survey (RCS) system, which was just recently enhanced, to see or to learn from the clients what other services government line agencies are needed to be improved. *(PIA CAR)