Ana Mae A.

de la Cruz

Case # 8: “Gifts Galore”

Gift giving truly is our nature. We Filipinos really love to give gifts. It is indeed part of
our culture as a way of showing appreciation or gratitude. It has been an old belief that to
refuse a gift is an insult, it is one way of showing that you are not appreciative of the effort
exerted by the giver or showing disrespect. If this is so, however it is not applicable in us
public employees. We should not forget that it is strongly prohibited to accept these gifts. It
is not acceptable to receive such items as token of appreciation especially on Adora’s part.
She will really become a talk of the town because instead of politely refusing the gifts she is
happily accepting them.

I salute the way Josie displayed in here. It only means that as a public employee she
is thinking and acting like what an officer should be. It is a matter of thinking rationally and
displaying that she knows the possible consequences of the action taken. As an officer with
a higher rank Adora, she should know the weight of the actions she is doing. She should
have considered the fact that she is positioned to a rank that is crucial, likewise she should
have handled the situation in a more mature way of thinking and with professionalism.
Although she did not actually ask for it, it is a must that she should not accept anything in
return. The way she tried to defend herself is showing clearly that she is accepting that is
just right for her to accept those gifts and she doesn’t see that it is not suited for her
position and that act is wrong.

It is really tempting to accept gifts like that. Practically speaking on a real life
scenario, it will really be difficult for a person to refuse those grandiose gifts knowing the
fact that you did not ask for it. But when you have strong conviction of what you believe,
you will be able to stop thinking and regretting that you did not accept it. Instead, you will
congratulate yourself that you were able to control and discipline yourself. You have done a
great job and many people would surely see you as someone that they could look up to.
Respect and trust of people are not readily given, it is actually earned. You will just have it if
you are worthy to be respected and be trusted.

In our everyday life, we can encounter this case and if the people would really insist
on giving us gifts, we can actually try to advise them to just give it to those people who
need it. We can assure them that if they do that we will be happier and we will not have to
regret even a single bit. We are just doing our job and what we expect them to do is follow
us that when they are already in then position, they should learn to value the essence of
being a good public servant, to serve without expecting anything in return.