Good morning, everyone. I am honored to be here with you, serving at the helm of our country’s oldest government department. I understand that next year, we will be celebrating the 120th anniversary of our founding. We have much to celebrate, indeed, but we have much left to do.
You will recall that in his inaugural address, which you should read by now, President Duterte quoted Fraklin D. Roosevelt. Here’s the quote: “The test of government is not whether we add more to the abundance of those who have much. It is whether we provide to those who have little.”
This sums up in no uncertain terms what is expected of us, and what we expect of ourselves.
A major reason why our people decided to vote out the old and vote in a new administration is that certain sense that government has lost touch with its citizens. We save and refuse to spend to shore up our credit ratings – long after it has become unnecessary to do so.
The Department of Finance can no longer use its fancy calculations to continue its detachment from the everyday lives of everyday Filipinos. We need to do our job a little differently, a little more creatively.
We will do all of these things toward an improved public service that is felt by the people. I expect each DOF employee to be the epitome of integrity. We need to demonstrate appropriate behaviour in dealing with external parties, such as the public, business, and external agencies. There will be no fraud or leaks of confidential information, no solicitation of bribes, gifts, concessions in whatever form. We shall avoid fraternizing with clients or external counterparts in a way that may influence the performance of duty.
If you can commit to this, then I look forward looking to working with you. But I need to know that you are onboard.
We also need to be good DOF citizens. We must abide by our own rules. We must cultivate sound “customer relationships”, inside and outside the DOF. I worked with the gentleman before who had an insight, and his insight was that each of our co-workers is indeed our customer because the way we work affects the way they work. And I hope that we look upon each other now not only as a team but customers so that we do will help the others do their jobs.
Soon after elections, we announced in Davao the Duterte Administration’s 10-point socioeconomic agenda, which I expect all of us to learn by heart. I am relying on you to align these priorities in your areas of responsibilities. We will welcome suggestions on how we can achieve those priorities. My door is always open to constructive and creative suggestions.
We have our revised organizational structure that will guide DOF operations. This new structure is an output of the transition process.
I explained the new structure during the first DOF execom meeting last Friday, and I directed our designated cluster heads to roll up their sleeves and hammer outthe details with all of you over the next few days at the group and unit levels.
By mid-July, I expect the cluster heads should be ready to brief the Office of the Secretary with updated organizational tables, a clear articulation of main functions, key result areas, and priorities for the next 6 months.
My expectation with regard to outcomes, is that we will be able to improve work quality, accelerate processing, and receive zero customer complaints.
We all know from experience that bureaucrats can make things easier for our people if they put their hearts into it. I look forward to accomplishing much with all of you in making things, dealing with us much easier for our citizens. Following President Duterte’s lead, we will restore the people’s trust and confidence in their government.
Before I leave, I would be happy to answer all the questions that you may ask. And as I say, questions that are wise or otherwise. No questions? I am sure the press has questions. No questions either? Maybe we should have meetings at 8 o’clock so that there will be neither any questions to ask.
Thank you very much. Looking forward to working with all of you.
Thank you.