Some supposedly “public servants” running some government agencies are not at all “servants” but act as lords that must be given due respect and worshipful regard. You dare not disturb them in their comfort zone or provoke them to anger or else they will lose their temper and flare up in frantic rage.
They might not say it, but some of them would show it in their actions—they demand much respect, obedience, and reverence, almost to the point of having them worshipped like they are some kind of gods. You can’t request them, beg them, or ask for humanitarian considerations because they don’t grant these. Those who transact with them must follow what they say, period. Otherwise, they must clear out.
These people do not care if their clients find them too inconsiderate. They just hold their heads high, accepting no reasons, justifications, or appeals. They take no pity on people despite the latter’s pathetic situations. They just cite rules and claim to impose these strictly, but in reality, they are just being inconsiderate for they can exercise discretion in making decisions.
Take for example the taking of Transcript of Records from a Registrar’s Office. Let’s say the owner of the document who applied for the same cannot claim it personally during its release due to certain responsibilities to attend to. So he sends his sibling to travel from their far-away place all the way to Tacloban, bearing only his notarized letter of authorization.
But upon reaching the office, the document is withheld as the owner’s valid ID is still required. The sibling contacts his brother via his cellphone, so the document owner sends the picture of his valid ID through the messenger. But still, the office employees do not release the document. The half-day travel (one way) and all the expenses incurred are wasted just because these public servants must be obeyed, their arrogant policies followed.
What’s despicable is that the more that the clients suffer, the stricter they become. They take pleasure in people’s agonies. They are heartless, inconsiderate, and numb to other people’s misfortunes. What they deem important is the respect and esteem that people give them, which elevate them to high levels.
No, they are far from being servants of the people. Instead, they are bosses and superiors, if not gods and goddesses. How high-minded they are, acting with much superiority, abusive, and arrogant. They think great of themselves while looking down on others. Even if they can already give what’s being asked of them, they keep delaying it so people would keep chasing them, hence their importance. They are hard to get, so to speak. You have to bow down before them before you can avail of their services.
Is that the kind of public servant we deserve to have? Is that how they should behave and deal with people? Are they the people to whose salaries our taxes go? Are they really public servants, or servants of the devil?
