Iloilo municipal official wins award after turning pond into eco-park

A MUNICIPAL department head from the central Philippine city of Iloilo on Wednesday received an outstanding government worker award for transforming a 15-hectare condoned fishpond into an eco-park.

The hard work of Municipal Environment and Natural Resources Officer Wilson A. Batislaon of the Municipal Government of Leganes, Iloilo “inspired more than 217 volunteer groups or a thousand volunteers to contribute to planting 150,000 mangroves,” President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. said in a speech at the award rites for 2024 Outstanding Government Workers.   

“Through this initiative, it improved the economy and it engaged to protect the forest, elevated the quality of coastal waters, lessened the damage caused by storm surges and typhoons,” he added.

The Civil Service Commission’s (CSC) Honor Awards Program recognizes civil servants for their “outstanding performance” and “extraordinary acts or services.”

Aside from Mr. Batislaon, the presidential award was also given to Undersecretary Glenn Mathew Guillermo Baggao of the Department of Health in the City of Manila, Medical Specialist III Rachelle C. Dela Cruz of the Philippine Children’s Medical Center in Quezon City, Social Welfare Office IV Ann Rapunzel O. Ganzon of the Provincial Government of Iloilo, Career Scientist II Marcela M. Navasero of the University of the Philippines Los Baños in Laguna, and Professor III Santiago T. Peña, Jr. of the Visayas State University in Baybay City, Leyte.

Presidential awardees also included Health Beyond Bard Programs of the Bataan Peninsula State University in Balanga City, Bataan; the Cacao Development Center of the Isabela State University in Echague, Isabela; and champions of the Philippine Good Agricultural Practices from the Visayas State University in Baybay City, Leyte.

In his speech, Mr. Marcos called on government workers to be transparent and accountable to the people.

Mr. Marcos has been under fire in recent days after his office confirmed that he had attended a concert gig by 1980s band Duran Duran organized by his “old friends” in a hotel in Pasay City for his 67^th birthday celebration.

Lawyers have said the President may have violated the country’s Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials, Section 7 of which provides that public officials and employees “shall not solicit or accept, directly or indirectly, any gift, gratuity, favor, entertainment, loan or anything of monetary value from any person in the course of their official duties or in connection with any operation being regulated by, or any transaction which may be affected by the functions of their office.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza