By Mario Casayuran
Senator Cynthia A. Villar, chairperson of the Senate agriculture and food committee, said on Saturday that public service is a calling that not everyone could competently and ably deliver.
Senator Cynthia Villar
(Senate of the Philippines via Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN)
Villar stressed this when she rallied career executives and rank-and-file employees to put more heart and integrity in their service to the government.
“Public service is a difficult career. You put long hours and great effort in delivering services to the people, at times, if not more often, sacrificing personal time and choices for the greater good of the majority. I have much respect and appreciation to those who opt to work in government over the private sector, which is more financially stable,” she said.
Villar was with career executives of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) who partook in an eco-tour, clean-up and tree planting activity at the Las Pinas Parañaque Wetland Park.
DENR career executives gathered at the Las Pinas Paranaque Wetland Park as part of the 45th Founding Anniversary of the Career Executive Service Board (CESB), which has for its theme, ‘Serbisyo ng CESO, Kalibre 45: Community passion (ComPASSION).’
ComPASSION is a 45-day reflection of the career executive community's pledge as CESO and eligibles where they give back and reach out to the community. Its five project areas are People, Planet, Prosperity, Peace and Partnership.
The activities held at the Las Pinas Paranaque Wetland Park fall under the Planet category, and was initiated by the career executive officers and eligibles of the DENR. The event was participated in by representatives from the CESB, the DENR Association of Career Executives Inc., DENR-NCR Conservation and Development Division, and the DENR Biodiversity Management Bureau.
The activities included bird watching and a tour of Las Pinas Paranaque Wetland Park, a 175-hectare area considered as the “last coastal frontier” or “last natural bastion in Metro Manila.’’
It was declared as a critical habitat in 2007 by Presidential Proclamation No. 1412, and has been named the sixth Philippine site in the Ramsar List of “Wetlands of International Importance” in March 15, 2013. It is the only one in the metropolis.
Villar likewise led the participants in a clean-up and tree planting activity at the Las Pinas Paranaque Wetland Park coastal area, a regular activity that the senator spearheads as an environmental warrior aggressively promoting the conservation and protection of the country’s natural habitats.