By Charissa Luci-Atienza
The Civil Service Commission (CSC) announced in a statement on Thursday (Jan. 2) that it is accepting nominations to the 2020 Search for Outstanding Government Workers until March 31, 2020.
The CSC said all government workers except those under job order or contract of service may be nominated. "All government workers in the career and non-career service including appointive barangay may be nominated."
The Commission said the nominations may be submitted to the CSC’s provincial and regional offices.
The awards that will be given in three categories are the Presidential Lingkod Bayan, Outstanding Public Officials and Employees or the Dangal ng Bayan, and CSC Pagasa.
"These awards are the highest and most coveted recognitions given to individuals or groups of individuals who have excelled or shown utmost dedication and commitment in government service," the CSC said.
The Presidential Lingkod Bayan (PLB) is given to an individual or group who "has exceptional or extraordinary contributions" with "nationwide impact."
In 2019, the PLB recipients were Dr. Joselito R. Chavez of the National Kidney and Transplant Institute, and the Advanced Space Technology, Research, Operations, and Services (ASTROS) Team of the Department of Science and Technology.
The PLB was conferred on Chavez for championing "the use of Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) for leptospirosis patients afflicted with pulmonary complications, increasing survival rate of a condition considered a death sentence before ECMO," the Commission said.
It said the ASTROS team was granted the same award for placing the Philippines on the space technology map by developing and operating the country’s first microsatellites DIWATA-1 and 2, and the first ground receiving station, the Philippine Earth Data Resource and Observation (PEDRO).
The Outstanding Public Officials and Employees or Dangal ng Bayan Award, meanwhile, is conferred on government employees "for strict adherence to the norms of conduct which positively influences others to observe high standards and observance of ethics in the discharge of official duties."
Last year's Dangal ng Bayan awardees included public school teachers Alvin F. Macalintal from Oriental Mindoro and Michelle D. Rubio from Sorsogon. They literally walked the “extra mile” so that indigent students need not travel far to school, the Commission said.
The third category is the CSC Pagasa Award, which is awarded "to an individual or group of individuals for outstanding contributions that directly benefit more than one department of the government."
The Tagum City Agriculture Office’s Tagumpay Agrivolving Fund bagged the award in 2019 "for offering an easy-access credit facility that has broken the oppressive cycle of debt endured by their farmers," the CSC said.