The Civil Service Commission has reminded government institutions to treat their employees as "strategic partners" in overcoming the COVID-19 pandemic crisis by ensuring the much-needed services are extended to them to prevent the spread of coronavirus disease in workplaces.
CSC Commissioner Aileen Lourdes Lizada made the call as one of the resource speakers in this year’s Tela Conference with the theme “Fashioning Philippine Textiles Towards a Sustainable Creative Economy.”
“Let us treat our employees as strategic partners in overcoming this crisis and eventually achieve work-life integration. Human Resources is the most important resource in this bureaucracy, as we are the oil that runs the whole machinery,” she told the conference participants.
She even read the quotes of Gary Hamel in his article for the Harvard Business Review entitled, “They Why, What, and How of Management Innovation.”
“A portion reads and I quote, “in this time of crisis, before we ask for people’s outputs, accomplishments or innovative ideas, can we make sure to first ask how they are? How are they coping? Can we first see to it that we have adopted preventive measures against COVID-19 in the workplace so that when it’s time to go back to physical reporting, our employees are assured that they are safe and that their well-being is taken cared of.”
She sought the strict implementation of the provisions of the Occupational Safety and Health Standard, which requires agencies to implement precautionary measures prior to the resumption of normal operations.
The CSC official noted that the Occupational Safety and Health Standard is a first for the bureaucracy drawn up by the CSC together with the Departments of Health, and Labor and Employment through Joint Memorandum Circular No. 1 issued in March last year.
“Second is our appeal to ensure that we will continue to deliver much needed services balanced with the need to prevent the spread of the coronavirus in workplaces,” Lizada said.
She expressed the Commission’s commitment to remain as “staunch partner” of the Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) in ensuring the full implementation of the 17-year old Republic Act No. 9242, otherwise known as the Philippine Tropical Fabrics Law.
The law mandates the government to promote the preferential use of locally-manufactured goods that utilise local resources, adopt measures that help make them competitive, and generate wider employment and greater benefits to the country.
Lizada said the CSC has issued policies to promote the preferential use of tropical fabrics for the uniforms of government officials and employees.
“For the CSC, mapa-international man po o local, we make sure that we are able to showcase the quality and finest hand-embroidered barong Tagalog of Lumban, Laguna which is known as the Embroidery Capital of the Philippines. Their products reflect the meticulous attention given to preserve their time-honoured tradition of exquisite embroidery and barong-making,” she said.
She said aside from uniforms, natural fibers produced, spun, woven or knitted and finished by local producers are the Commission’s preferred tokens of appreciation for our local and international partners and stakeholders.
“Also, we regularly procure Yakan textiles ordered from Southern Mindanao and Isabel fabrics from Northern Luzon. Every occasion that requires a Filipiniana attire, I proudly wear native fabrics, handwoven fabrics for the same reminds me of my roots,” Lizada said.