The Office of the President (OP) has issued a memorandum order (MO) extending the term of coterminous OP employees and officials until Dec. 31 this year.
MO 7, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin by authority of the President on Sept. 27, extends the terms of OP employees and officials until Dec. 31, 2022 unless their appointments are “sooner revoked, resignations accepted, replacements appointed, or reappointments issued.”
Bersamin said MO 7 was issued “in the exigency of service and to prevent any disruption in the delivery of government services.”
During a flag-raising ceremony on Monday, Bersamin enjoined his fellow public servants to be true to their oaths of office.
“Public service becomes meaningless and empty if the public servant is not dedicated to this kind of intentional ovations. We must endeavor to uphold the rule of law in every action that we take in the discharge of our duties and our responsibilities,” he said.
Bersamin reminded government officials and employees to serve with “sincerely with compassion.”
“When we are compassionate, we must be sincere. We do not serve the purpose of being compassionate if we have no sincerity in our hearts,” he added.
Director Andrea Maila Ordanez of OP’s Human Resource department, meanwhile, thanked Bersamin for signing the MO.
“Sir, it is really hard to be in that place of uncertainty especially this coming Christmas season na ang hiling lang ng bawat isa sa amin ay maging happy tayo ngayong Pasko (where all of us only wish for a happy Christmas),” she said.
In July, the Palace issued Memorandum Circular No. 3 extending the term of office of designated officers-in-charge (OICs) of departments, agencies, and bureaus until Dec. 31 this year.
MC 3 is a supplement to MC 1 which designates as OIC the next-in-rank and most senior official in government departments, offices, agencies, and bureaus that have no appointed head.
Under MC 3, all OICs of departments, agencies, bureau and office, non-Career Executive Service officials occupying Career Executive Service positions, and contractual or casual employees covered by the order shall continue to perform their duties and discharge their functions until Dec. 31 or until a replacement has been appointed, whichever comes first.
Source: Philippines News Agency