THE PHILIPPINE

CIVIL SERVICE
 Definition and Coverage
The government is the single biggest
organization in the country. It is responsible for
running its civil governance and machinery for
service delivery. It is the biggest employer with
personnel of 1.4 million state workers. Its
personnel administration system is governed by
laws, rules and regulations which have involved
through the years.
 Civil Service
Is the generic term of the men and women
employed in the government to carry out public
services in all its branches, subdivisions, and
instrumentalities. This encompasses the executive,
legislative and judicial branches of government.
Government employees work in constitutional offices,
departments, bureaus, and agencies of the national
government, local government units, government-
owned and controlled corporates, and state colleges
and universities.
 The Civil Service Commission (CSC) is the central personnel agency of the
government. Section 3, Article IX, Letter B of the Philippine Constitution states:

The Civil Service Commission, as the central

personnel agency of the Government, shall establish a
career service and adopt measures to promote morale,
efficiency, integrity, responsiveness, progressiveness,
and courtesy in the civil service. It shall strengthen the
merit and rewards system, integrate all human
resources development programs for all levels and
ranks, and institutionalize a management climate
conducive to public accountability…..
 Book V, Title I, Subtitle A of Executive
Order No. 292, “ The Revised
Administrative Code of 1987” made
effective on November 23, 1989 lays down
the basic policies and the systems and
procedures by which the personnel
administration of the government are to
be based. Chapter 9 of the Book I of the
code discussed the general principles
governing public officers.
 It states that public office is a public trust and
that public officers and employees must at all
times be accountable to the people, serve them
with utmost responsibility, integrity, loyalty and
efficiency, act with patriotism and justice, and
lead modest lives. It is of primary importance
that people in public service must be competent,
dedicated and professional and it is the public
personnel administration system that makes
them so.
 One of the powers of the CSC as stated in Section
12(2), Chapter 3, Book V of The Administrative Code of
1987 is to prescribe, amend and enforce the rules and
regulations for carrying into the provisions of the Civil
Service Law and other pertinent laws. Pursuant to that
provision, CSC in its Resolution No. 1613 dated December
27, 1991 adopted and prescribed the “ Omnibus Rules
Implementing Book V of Executive Order No. 292 and
Other Pertinent civil Service Laws” to carry out the
provisions of said Code and other pertinent civil service
laws. The Omnibus Rules was published in the Philippines
Star on January 15, 1992.
 On December 30, 1998, a “Revised Omnibus Rules on
Appointments and Other Personnel actions” was
published in the Manila Times. The revised rules as
circularized in CSC Memorandum Circular No. 40,s. 1998
dated 14 December 1998 consolidated the amendments
and the various issuances on appointments and other
personnel actions issues by the CSC from time to time to
facilitate action on all kinds of appointments further
simplify processing thereof. The Rules was further modified
under CSC Resolution No. 99-1907, series of 1999,
“ Additional Provisions Amendments to CSC Memorandum
Circular No. 40, s. 1998.”
 While, However, Book V of the Administrative Code of 1987 is
devoted to personnel administration, and an Omnibus Rules had been
adopted to carry out the provisions of said Code, reference has still to be
made to laws and administrative issuances of the past thirty years. There
are many gaps in the laws and issuances and many issues have remained
unaddressed. Congress has yet to enact a comprehensive and codified law
to govern the personnel administration system in government. A proposed
Civil Service Code of the Philippines is still pending in congress. It was
introduced in the Senate on May 20, 2002 by then Chairperson of the
Committee on Civil Service and Government Reorganization, Senator
Teresa Aquino Oreta, as Senate Bill No. 2132 to be known as the Civil
Service Code of the Philippines. When passed into law, it will be the single
source of the government’s personnel administration system to supersede
Book V of the Administrative Code and all other laws and administrative
issuances governing personnel administration in government.
 History and Background
The Philippine Civil Service was established on
September 19, 1900 with the passage by the Second
Philippines Commission of the Public Act No. 5, “ An Act for
the Establishment of an Efficient and Honest Civil Service in
the Philippines Islands. “ The Act established a system for
ascertaining the merit and fitness of applicants for
positions in the government and for maintaining an
efficient and honest civil service. It also defined the scope
of the civil service, laid down guidelines for the
preparation, conduct and rating of civil service
examinations, prescribed procedures for conducting
administrative investigative investigations, provided
standards of ethical conduct for civil service employees,
and imposed penalties for violations of the Act.
 On September 26, 1900, one week after the passage of
Public Act No. 5, the Philippine Civil Service Board was
organized. It was composed of the three member: a
chairman, a secretary, and chief examiner. The board was
vested with authority to see to it that appointments and
promotion in the civil service were made according to merit
and by competitive examinations whenever practicable. The
board was given the function of administering civil service
examinations and setting standards for appointments in the
government service. The board was also granted with
power to investigate and report on matters relating to the
enforcement of the Act, to summon witnesses, administer
oaths, and require the production of relevant official
records in the conduct of investigation.
 The first Chairman of the Board was Justice
Cayatano Arellano and the other members were
Felipe Buencamino and W. Leon Pepperman.
Frank M. Kiggins succeeded Cayatano Arellano
when tha latter resigned on July 1, 1901.
William S. Wasburn succeeded Kinggins on
August 11, 1901. In 1902 Bolivar L. Falconer
replaced Pepperman and Jose E. Alemany
succeeded Buencamino.
 On October 26, 1905 the Philippine Civil Service Board was
convert into the bureau of Civil Service under Act No. 1407 with a
director and two assistant directors. The Bureau performed the
functions of a central personnel bureau. On June 23, 1936, it
became a first class bureau under Executive Order No. 39 with a
Commissioner having the rank of permanent Undersecretary and a
Deputy Commissioner. On June 19, 1959, under Republic Act No.
2260, “An Act to Amend and Revise the Laws relative to the
Philippine Civil Service,” it became Civil Service Commission with a
Commissioner and a Deputy Commissioner. Then it became a
three-member Civil Service Commission under Presidential Decree
No. 1 on September 24, 1972 and in the 1973 Constitution; and
finally into the three-member Civil Service Commission under the
1987 Constitution.
 Republic Act No. 2260 otherwise known as
The Civil Service Act of 1959 sought to remedy the
defects of the civil service system by amending,
repealing or improving the existing provisions of
the Civil Service Law and in other legislations
which tended to defeat the merit system; and
made new provisions for carrying out more
effectively and economically the needs and
requirements of the public service.
 The Act changed the Bureau of Civil Service into a Civil Service
Commission; created a full time Civil Service Board to act as
appellate body in administrative cases decided by the Civil Service
Commissioner; provided for the creation of personnel offices and
personnel officer positions in various branches of the government;
authorized agencies to have appropriate training staff and to
establish their own in-service training programs in accordance with
standards laid down by the Civil Service Commission; provided an
improved rating system as well as an improved promotion system;
and made immorality and improper solicitation of contributions
from subordinates and schoolchildren ground for disciplinary action.
Presidential Decree No. 807 (the Civil Service Decree of the
Philippines enacted in 1975) provided new, more facilitation policies.
 Salient Features on the Civil Service

Article IX-B of the 1987 Philippine Constitution enumerates

the following salient features on the civil service:

vAppointments in the civil service shall be made only

according to merit and fitness to be determined, as far as
practicable, and except for positions which are policy
determining, primarily confidential, or highly technical, by
competitive examinations.
vNo officer or employee of the civil
service shall be removed or
suspended except for cause provided
by the law.
v The right to self-organization
shall not be denied to
government employees.
 vTemporary employees of the
government shall be given such
protection as may be provided by law.
vNo candidate who has lost in any
election shall, within one year after
such election, be appointed to any
office in the government or any
government-owned or controlled
corporations or in any of their
subsidiaries.
vNo elective official shall be eligible
for appointment in any capacity to
any public office or position during
his tenure.
vNo elective or appointment public officer
or employee shall receive additional, double,
or indirect compensation, unless specifically
authorized by law, nor accept without the
consent of the Congress, any present,
emolument, office, or title of any kind from
any foreign government.
 Foremost among the civil service principles upheld
by the Civil Service Commission are merit and fitness
and political neutrality. Throughout its 107 years of
existence, these principles have sustained the stability
of the civil service despite political, social, and
economic changes in the nation. It is its adherence to
these principles that the Civil Service Commission has
protected government employees and ensured the
continued delivery to the people.
 Imagine, if after every election, a new set
of employees replaces those in an entire
agency of office. There will be no continuity
of the services that the public need since the
new employees would have to settle down
first and familiarize themselves with the job
to be done.
 Characteristics of the Civil Service
The following features carry out the merit
and fitness concept in the civil service:

qEquality of opportunity to join the service.

All citizens of the Philippines can join the

civil service regardless of religious beliefs,
gender, ethnic affiliation, and regional origin.
qOpen competition for positions

Competitive examinations are

administered so that positions may be
filled only by the competent and qualified.
qStandardization of compensation

The Congress shall provide for the standardization

of compensation of government officials and
employees, including those in government-owned or
controlled corporations with original charters, taking
into account the nature of the responsibilities
pertaining to, and the qualifications required for their
positions. The principle of equal pay for equal work is
adhered to.
qCareer advancement

Advancement on merit in the

service is based on performance,
education, training, experience,
attitudes, and potential.
qSecurity of tenure

No officer or employee in the civil

service shall be disciplined,
suspended or dismissed except for
cause as provided by law and after
due process.
qPolitical neutrality

No officer or employee in the civil service, including

members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, shall
engage in any partisan political activity or take part in any
election except to vote. However, an officer or employee
may express his or her views on current political issues or
mention the names of candidates for public office whom
s/he supports. This restriction protects civil servants from
political harassment and insures stability and continuity in
the bureaucracy.
 Classification of Positions
Positions in the civil service are classified into career service and non-
career service.

The Career Service is characterized by :

vEntrance based on merit and fitness to be

determined as far as practicable by
competitive examination, or based on highly
technical qualifications;
vOpportunity for advancement
to higher career positions;

vSecurity of tenure
 The Non-Career Service is characterized by:
vEntrance on bases other than those of the usual tests
of merit and fitness utilized for the career service; and

vTenure which is limited to a period specified by law or

which is co- terminous with that of the appointing
authority or subject to his pleasure or which is limited
to the duration of a particular project for which
employment was made
 The Career Service positions include:

1. Open career positions, appointment to

which prior qualifications in an appointment
examination is required.
2. Closed career positions which are scientific,
technological or managerial in nature such as
positions of the faculty and academic staff of
state colleges and universities, and scientific
and technological positions in scientific or
research institutions which shall maintain
their own merit system.
3. Positions in the Career Executive Service,
namely, Undersecretary, Assistant Secretary,
Bureau Director, Assistant Bureau Director,
Regional Director, Assistant Regional Director,
Chief of Department Service and other officers
of equivalent rank as may be identified by the
Career Executive Service Board, all of whom are
appointed by the President.
4. Career offers other than those in
the Career Executive Service, who
are appointed by the President,
such as the Foreign Service
Officers in the Department of
Foreign Affairs.
5. Commissioned officers and
enlisted men of the Armed Forces
which shall maintain a separate
merit system.
6. Personnel of government-owned or
controlled corporations, whether
performing governmental or proprietary
functions, who do not fall under the
non-career service.
7. Permanent laborers, whether
skilled, semi-skilled, or unskilled.
 The Non-Career Service positions
include:

1. Elective officials and their

personal or confidential staff.
2. Secretaries and other officials of
Cabinet rank who hold their
positions at the pleasure of the
President and their personal and
confidential staff.
3. Chairman and member of
commissions and boards with fixed
terms of office and their personal or
confidential staff.
4. Contractual personnel or those whose
employment in the government is in accordance
with a special contract to undertake a specific work
or job, requiring special or technical skills not
available in the employing agency, to be
accomplished within a specific period, which in no
case shall exceed one year, and performs or
accomplishes the specific work or job, under his own
responsibility with a minimum of direction and
supervision from the hiring agency
5. Emergency and seasonal
personnel.
 Levels of Positions in the Career Service
Classes of positions in the career service are group into three
levels as follows:

1. The first level which includes clerical, trades, crafts

and custodial positions which involve non-professional
or subprofessional work in a non-supervisory or
supervisory capacity requiring less than four years of
collegiate studies.
2.The second level which includes
professional, technical and scientific
positions which involve professional,
technical or scientific work in a supervisory
or non-supervisory capacity requiring at
least four years of college work up to
Division Chief level.
3. The third level which covers positions in
the Career Executive Service (CES), namely,
Undersecretary, Assistant Secretary, Bureau
Director, Assistant Bureau Director, Regional
Director, Assistant Regional Director, Chief of
Department Service and other officers of
equivalent rank as may be identified by the
Career Executive Service Board.
 The third level or the government executives set the direction tone and
pace of the offices under them. They represent the continuity and stability factor
in the government’s daily operation.

The third level is policy direction setting,

not only management. The character and
quality of the third level set the standards for
the second and first levels. Thus, the first and
second levels can only be as good or as bad as
the third level. It is the third level officials that
fix the standards and therefore they act as the
role models for bureaucracy.
 In the introduction of the Handbook intended for the
third level or Career Executive Service, it state:

As a government executive, your position

requires skills in management, an eye for adopting
innovative approaches to program implantation,
flexibility in problem solving and boldness in decision
making. If you are in government service for the first
time, you will discover a work environment
significantly different from the private sector but one
which promises plenty of opportunities for public
service and personal growth.
 Since you will be involved in the planning and
formulation of policies, and the implementation,
monitoring and evaluation of government
programs, project and services, in your hands lies
the success or failure of program in education,
agriculture, industry, health and other
government concerns. You are, therefore,
privileged to belong to a group which has been
given the rare chance to serve the country and
the people, and the distinct opportunity to make
concrete contributions to national development.
 When Karina Constatino-David was appointed on February 23,
2001 by President Macapagal-Arroyo as Chairman of the Civil
Service Commission, among the first things Chair David did was to
diagnose the state of state of affairs of the civil service, with the
help of stakeholders, practitioners, academicians, civil society, and
the career service staff in the CSC. Among the diagnosis was that
the appointments from executive positions to job orders and
contracts of service continue to be vulnerable to patronage politics;
and that the prevailing culture of patronage causes insecurity
especially during transactions of political leadership, negative the
very principle of careerism.
 …Political influence and the “spoils” system
continue to hold sway in appointments to senior
and other key career service positions. The
President holds the power to appoint no less
than ten thousand (10,000) executives and top
official. This includes 6000 career executive
service positions, 3000 positions in the
constitutional bodies and the judiciary, 1250
prosecutors and 500 other positions that have
been created since the 1987 Constitution via
special laws. The process of transparent and deep