Perceived dishonest practices of local government employees of the Municipality of San Enrique, Iloilo

Abstract

It has been told time and again that dishonest acts and corrupt practices are among the major problems that exist in our national and local government agencies. This is because most of us are passive about it, and as such we accept, tolerate and condone these practices and many even participate in them. While there are various studies about graft and corruption involving agencies of national government, studies in local government units are still limited.

With the passage of the Local Government Code of 1991, sufficient power and authority from the national governments has been transferred to the local governments for local autonomy. There is a crucial role to be played by the local chief executives, local officials and the constituents as well in addressing the problems of dishonesty and corruption practices in the LGU. This is the reason why this research study was conducted in the local government unit of San Enrique, Iloilo.

This study was conducted at the San Enrique, Iloilo local government unit (LGU) in order to determine the employees’ awareness, practice and perception of dishonest acts in the government service. The respondents were all employees of the San Enrique, Iloilo LGU. They were requested to answer a researcher-made questionnaire.

The San Enrique LGU has a total of one hundred two (102) employees. Out of these 102 employees, eighty-six (86) were taken in as respondents. The study showed that of the 86 respondents, a majority (60.5 percent) of them were old (41 to 60 years old) while a little less than two-fifths (39.5 percent) were young (23 to 40 years old). With regards to sex, majority (55.8 percent) of the respondents are females while a little more than two-fifths (44.2 percent) are males. With respect to length of service, majority (66.3 percent) of the respondents had short service (1-17 years) while almost one-third (33.7 percent) had long service (18-34 years). By type of position, there is an equal proportion of technical and non-technical positions.

As to the awareness of dishonest acts, the study showed the highest admission or sixty three (63) of the respondents (73.2 percent) admitted that they were aware on (1) the use of office supplies and facilities for personal purposes and (2) talking about personal matters in the office while on duty, wherein fifty eight (58) of the respondents (67.5 percent) admitted they were aware. While the lowest admission or twenty two (22) of the respondents (25.6 percent) admitted they were aware on travelling without accomplishing the official travel purpose.

As to the practice of dishonest acts, the study revealed that the highest admission or fifty seven (57) of the respondents (66.3 percent) admitted that they practiced the (1) use of office supplies and facilities for personal purposes and (2) talking about personal matters in the office while on duty, wherein forty four (44) of the respondents (51.2 percent) admitted they were aware. While the lowest admission with fifteen (15) of the respondents (17.4 percent) admitted they practiced (1) travelling without accomplishing the official travel purpose while on duty and (2) hiring of personnel from recommendations of influential politicians even if there are other applicants more qualified.

As to the perception of dishonest acts, the employees of San Enrique LGU observed that these acts were done seldom and perceived that these were not alright at all.