Several years back, I remember the previous office I was working in issued a memorandum requiring employees to observe austerity measures in the office. Initially, it brought on a lot of grumbling and complaining from it being irrelevant to being unfair.

Despite the complaining though, it was followed nonetheless. Eventually the people got used to it. They became mindful of their usage of electricity and became watchful in the usage of office materials and supplies. And it made a big difference by bringing down the monthly electricity consumption and extending the inventory of supplies.

Lately, the humble “maruya” took center stage when it was the highlighted dish served in the inauguration of President Rodrigo R. Duterte. It even got more attention than the members of the diplomatic corps present in the event.

Just recently, on July 25, the president gave his First State of the Nation Address (SONA), once more sans lavishness and extravagance.

It is uplifting to see our national leaders initiating these practices for the Filipino citizenry to emulate.

Frugality is defined in Wikipedia as “the quality of being frugal, sparing, thrifty, prudent or economical in the consumption of consumable resources such as food, time or money…”

While it is true that the funds we receive from the national government are partly from the taxes we pay, it does not give us the liberty to use it excessively. Instead, we are expected to oversee the proper utilization of government supplies and equipment. Reducing wastage is one way of helping our government.

Practicality can also be shown in the way we handle our resource of time. It is a good stewardship of time when we utilize most of the eight official hours we have for actual office work. Minimizing unessential tasks will maximize our efficiency. Furthermore, this will confirm our worth of being entrusted with our profession.

There is nothing in our possession right now that we can truly claim as ours. Our work can be taken away from us by circumstances. Time flies fast and money saved through time can be fleetingly gone. Let us value these things and not be wasteful of them. For they may be here today but gone tomorrow. After all, nothing is permanent. Even life itself is temporal.

LORNA BETHEL RAE M. LAPECIROS

        Administrative Assistant III