Social networking encouraged in this gov’t office

Logo taken from https://www.dole.gov.ph

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines – The use of Facebook and other social networking sites may have been banned in various government offices but in the regional office of the Department of Labor and Employment in Western Mindanao, their use by employees is actually being encouraged, even during office hours.

Ponciano Ligutom, DoLE Western Mindanao director, said contrary to popular belief, Facebook and other social networking sites were not counter-productive if used properly and could even “bring our office closer to the people.”

“Other officials may see it as counter-productive for public servants [but] I don’t see it that way,” Ligutom added in an interview on Wednesday.

He said he the use of a particular social networking site was one way of reaching out to a wider range of people, “so why should I prohibit it?”

“For as long as our personnel deliver what is expected of them perfectly well and produce better outputs, I won’t mind seeing them using networking sites,” Ligutom said.

He said to maximize the use of social networking sites for delivery of services, DoLE Western Mindanao has even opened several Facebook accounts and these were being managed by DoLE personnel.

The DoLE regional office also maintains two websites, www.dole9.org

and www.dole9.com.ph.

“We are trying to be interactive and more accessible, people can browse our pages, see our activities and interact actively with our employees including me,” Ligutom said.

He said the evolution of communication from the paper of the old days to the Internet of today has allowed more people to interact faster.