PRESIDENT Marcos Jr. yesterday urged public servants to live by their constitutional mandate that “public office is a public trust” and emphasized the importance of being transparent and accountable to the people and continuously serving the Filipinos with integrity, loyalty, and efficiency.

During the 2024 Search for Outstanding Government Workers awarding ceremony in Malacañang, the President also urged public servants to strive to be a Bagong Pilipino who would help make the vision of the government a reality, and to support the administration in its efforts to provide a bright and progressive future for Filipinos.

“Let us continue to live by our constitutional mandate that public office is a public trust. We should remain transparent, accountable to all our people and serve them with integrity, loyalty, and efficiency,” Marcos said.

“As we push back the boundaries of public service, let us strive to be a Bagong Pilipino—one who will make our vision of a prosperous, progressive, and equitable society a reality within our lifetimes,” he added.

During the event, the President recognized and honored civil servants who made significant contributions in their line of work and asked other members of government, especially the new ones, to emulate the performance of the awardees.

Marcos said the quality of work exhibited by the awardees belie the general perception that a civil servant is a bit of “a drudge, not terribly imaginative, and just doing very ordinary work and mundane work.”

He said they provided exceptional service complemented by their principles, virtues, and hard work that truly inspires everyone to strive to make a difference in society.

“You serve as the pillars upon which our government can draw its confidence and build its momentum in achieving a Bagong Pilipinas,” he added.

The 2024 Outstanding Government Workers has three categories: Presidential Lingkod Bayan (PLB), CSC Pagasa, and Dangal ng Bayan (DNB).

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) is the lead agency in recognizing and awarding government workers for their outstanding contributions, achievements, and display of ethical behavior in their respective public service careers.

The PLB recognizes exceptional contributions resulting from an idea or performance that has a nationwide impact on public interest, security, and patrimony, while the CSC Pagasa award recognizes outstanding contributions resulting from an idea or performance that directly benefits more than one department or agency of the government.

The Dangal ng Bayan recognizes the performance of an extraordinary act of public service and consistent demonstration of exemplary ethical behavior based on the eight norms of conduct for public officials and employees.

The four PLB awardees received a Presidential plaque with a citation signed by the President, a gold-gilded medallion, and an incentive worth P200,000 for individual awardees and P100,000 per member for group awardees; while the nine CSC Pagasa awardees received a plaque with a citation signed by the CSC chairperson, a gold-gilded medallion, and incentive worth P200,000 for individual awardees and P100,000 per member for group awardees.

The 10 Dangal ng Bayan (DNB) awardees received a fiberglass trophy designed by National Artist for Sculpture Napoleon V. Abueva, a gold-gilded medallion, and an incentive worth P200,000.