Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairperson Karlo Nograles called on government workers that they should strive for excellence as it translates to improved public service delivery and efficient client transactions. Nograles made the statement in front of the Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA) during the agency’s flag-raising ceremony. There. he stated that the challenge of building back better post-pandemic requires civil servants to strive for change and not to settle for the status quo. “Excellence is what distinguishes an ordinary kawani (civil servant) from a lingkod bayani (servant hero). Ngayong nasa proseso tayo ng pagpapanumbalik ng mga nakagawian bago ang pandemya, huwag naman sanang business as usual. Ipakita natin na may mga natutunan tayo at maraming maayos na pagbabago pagdating sa kalidad at husay ng serbisyo publiko,” he said. Citing the importance of everyday excellence, Chairperson Nograles pledged to push for learning and development interventions that build the skills and upgrade the competencies of the country’s 1.8 million public sector workforce to prepare them for the future better. “This period of building back better is a challenging time indeed. But if we do not step up and strive for excellence, we will never know what more we can change, or what great things we can achieve,” he added. As the head of the central personnel agency of the government, Nograles shared that the CSC pursues excellence by maximizing technology and digital processes in its policies, programs, systems, and operations towards faster government transactions and efficient public service as required under the provisions of the Republic Act (R.A.) No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act. He then encouraged the leadership of LWUA to champion digital transformation starting with the agency’s own services, noting that R.A No. 11032 requires a whole-of-government process review to re-engineer and streamline, followed by digitizing and digitalizing through technology-based processes and applications. “But I acknowledge that my vision cannot be accomplished by me alone. I appeal for your full support in the CSC’s initiatives to capacitate our public service workforce and prepare them for the demands of digitization and digitalization. Mabuhay kayo, ang mga lingkod bayan, at ang serbisyo publiko,” he said.