Ian Alfredo Magno NEEDING to request for an extended mediation schedule on behalf of a client, I virtually had to navigate my way through the makeshift offices at the Cagayan de Oro City Tourism Hall, a couple of months ago. And the sun, it was beaming heat throughout the place like it was summertime too soon. Sweat could have been an understatement.  Yes, it wasn’t that comfortable. However, what struck me most that day was none of the above. Rather, it was the courteous demeanor of a very accommodating court staff who obliged to extend assistance with that genuine smile and eagerness. Suddenly I forgot about the blazing heat, though it turned my coat even warmer inside. Truly, good service is a game changer. To recall, it was in the 30th of January 2015 when the Cagayan de Oro City Hall of Justice was razed by fire, which in fact claimed the lives of one court staff and a security personnel.  While operations were momentarily interrupted, however, it did not take long to carry on business as usual in its temporary location at the CDOC Tourism Hall. Thus, one could just visualize a three-storey staff complement now placed in a relatively undersized one-storey hall, together with all the files, fixtures and equipment. Indeed, the local justice system took a beating from that merciless fire, that very fateful day. More than a year later, it would again take a beating of a different sort--the recent extortion fiasco allegedly involving a prosecution aide. Stories of this kind seem unfair, as it almost always casts a sweeping generalization that public servants are customarily crooked. It is unfair--especially particularly to the rest of the office aides who, up to now, maintain untarnished reputations and unblemished service records. And I rather call them the “silver linings” who tirelessly redeem the beleaguered name of public service.  They are those who, in their effort to make a living, somehow exemplify the norms demanded in public office – like that court staff whom I thought to myself, given the chance, I’d reward with some sort of recognition one day. Meanwhile, Republic Act No. 6713 otherwise known as the “Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees” is not all penalties and punishments.  Section 6 thereof confers incentives, thus: “A system of annual incentives and rewards is hereby established in order to motivate and inspire public servants to uphold the highest standards of ethics.  For this purpose, a Committee on Awards to Outstanding Public Officials and Employees is hereby created composed of the following: the Ombudsman and Chairman of the Civil Service Commission as Co-Chairmen, and the Chairman of the Commission on Audit, and two government employees to be appointed by the President, as members. “It shall be the task of this Committee to conduct a periodic, continuing review of the performance of public officials and employees, in all the branches and agencies of Government and establish a system of annual incentives and rewards to the end that due recognition is given to public officials and employees of outstanding merit on the basis of the standards set forth in this Act. “The conferment of awards shall take into account, among other things, the following: the years of service and the quality and consistency of performance, the obscurity of the position, the level of salary, the unique and exemplary quality of a certain achievement, and the risks or temptations inherent in the work.  Incentives and rewards to government officials and employees of the year to be announced in public ceremonies honoring them may take the form of bonuses, citations, directorships in government-owned or controlled corporations, local and foreign scholarship grants, paid vacations and the like.  They shall likewise be automatically promoted to the next higher position with the commensurate salary suitable to their qualifications.  In case there is no next higher position or it is not vacant, said position shall be included in the budget of the office in the next General Appropriations Act.  The Committee on Awards shall adopt its own rules to govern the conduct of its activities.” At this moment, I am extending my humble thanks to that anonymous court staff of the Cagayan de Oro Hall of Justice and to all colleagues who share the same attitude towards Public Service.   (Lawyer Ian Alfredo T. Magno is an associate at Francis U. Ku & Associates, and is deputy legal officer at Philhealth. E-mail: ianalfredom@gmail.com)