UNIVERSITY OF CAGAYAN VALLEY

MASTER OF SCIENCE IN CRIMINOLOGY

LAWS, STANDARDS AND VALUES REQUIRED FOR A PROFESSIONAL LAW ENFORCERS

REPUBLIC ACT 6713

THEORETICAL DISCUSSION

The nature and goal of Ethics in Public Service

 There are two ways to understand ethics in public service. The first one refers to the set of criteria of a particular
pattern of behaviour public servants ought to comply. This particular pattern of behaviour is fixed by law. This
assumption is simply referring to certain prescribed mode of actions public servants ought to conduct him or her
in the performance of certain task. The second one refers to a certain structure or procedure from which the
prescribed norm or rules is applied. In this case it demands a structured behaviour from the public servant.

 In this manner the goal of the prescribed norms in a given structure is to form the behaviour of the public
servants. Public service ethics instruments are government statutes, laws, codes, legislations and regulations
passed by congress and other duly constituted public authorities. An ethical public servant is docile and compliant
to the government norms and rules.

HYPOTHETICAL DISCUSSION

 WHAT IS THE CONDITION OF PUBLIC ETHICS IN THE PHILIPPINES? WHAT ARE THE EMBEDDED
ATTITUDES OF PUBLIC SERVANTS IN THE EXERCISE OF ADMINISTRATIVE RESPONSIBILITY
WHILE IN PUBLIC OFFICE?

 The situation in the Philippines today is AN ETHICS IN PAPER BUT NOT IN PRAXIS. Becoming public
servant is an opportunity to enrich oneself except for those who take public service as a matter of a fundamental
choice.

 Fr. John J. Carol, SJ (Director, Institute of Church and Social Issues Ateneo de Manila University) made an
analysis of public sector ethics in the Philippines:

“We are painfully aware of failures at all levels, among public officials and public servants with regard to
the ethics of public service: from the arrogance and venality of policemen as well as customs and
immigration officials and minor civil servants in dealing with the public, through the violation of human
rights by law- enforcement officers, the organized corruption within government agencies, junkets abroad
for legislators and officials, lavish expenditures on their offices, callous treatment of our OFW By
Department of Foreign Affairs personnel, the use of public money to promote ones re-election prospects,
extortion from private firms for the same purposes, to the massive electoral cheating.

 When shall we have public officials who are modest in their ways? Nowadays, seldom do we find leaders as
models of integrity, honesty and clean living. That is why we should be cautious with politicians who appear to be
gentle and timid during elections.

EMPIRICAL DISCUSSION

 In the analysis of Fr. Caroll, the key phrases that can be extracted are: failure at all levels among public officials
and public servants with regard to the ethics of public service, arrogance and venality, organized corruption, use
of money to promote ones re-election, extortion from private firms and electoral cheating.
 Arrogance and venality, and organized corruption are embedded attitudes of public servants in the exercise of
public office. For instance, the exposure of the irregularities at the Bureau of Immigration during a senate hearing
where 90 percent of the bureaus personnel were involved in the so-called “pastillas bribery scheme”, which
allows special treatment to Chinese nationals entering the country for fee.

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  It is recommended that government employees must uphold public interest over personal interest. Agency heads
must play the role as model and witness of himself of good governance: transparency and accountability to build
credibility and track record of what it means to be ethical as public servants. Pres. ML Quezon pointed out :

“Every officials of the government, even the most modest, has a job to perform and is much in duty
bound to perform that job well as those occupying higher positions. In our effort to give the people the
best government that there is, we have to have everybody do his job, including the clerk, the policeman-
everybody in the service. Every one of them should do his best because a government cannot be a
government of higher officials only.”

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