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QUESTIONS about his fitness is not Ricardo L. Saludo’s problem,
but perceptions that he would be unable to turn the tide of politics
in the civil service system. President Gloria Arroyo recently
nominated the Cabinet secretary chairman of the Civil Service
Commission.
He inherits a system where many unqualified
officials had assumed office and Cabinet secretaries freely filled
up important offices with their followers. A sizable company of
former military and police officers has pitched camps in civilian
offices. Merit and fitness flew out the window as loyalties were
rewarded and “paybacks” fulfilled. The system had become
uncivil.
The unbelievers say he had been a staunch
defender of the administration or that he did not bother to qualify
for a civil-service rank that he could have easily obtained. Well,
it was part of his duties to straighten out the record or give it a
spin, being a deputy palace spokesman. As for paper qualification,
he has a Masters in public policy from a London university and an
undergraduate degree in literature. He was a good journalist, too,
working at various times as deputy managing editor for a Hong
Kong-based business magazine and Asian-affairs analyst for a major
TV network.
We will not join the pessimists who will shoot
down a public servant even before he has started his term. We give
Secretary Saludo the benefit of the doubt and acknowledge his
academic, journalistic and public-service record. His character, as
far as we know, is spotless. Unlike some Malacañang executives and
Cabinet members, he has not been linked to any scandal.
The backbone of government
The civil service is the backbone of the
government, easily the fourth pillar in governance—along with the
executive, the legislature and the judiciary. The administration may
face a political breakdown, a constitutional crisis, or internal and
external threats but a strong civil service guarantees continuity
and consistency in the public life.
Given independence and space for
professionalism, the career civil service will survive the vagaries
of politics as a source of full-throated civic spirit and
discipline. It is for this reason that most developed nations and
modernizing societies take pride in the system, without which public
service suffers and the national life misses a vital center.
This is the kind of civil service Saludo must
aspire to. He should renovate the machine and liberate it from
politics. The restoration of merit and fitness is paramount.
Stability must be established, morale raised. There is a system of
reward for performance and sanctions for underachieving. Under such
a system, workers and managers literally regard themselves as
servants of the people. And under such a system, a career in the
civil service is considered a fulfilling and rewarding life, an
honorable, life-long vocation.
Resisting politics
Saludo will have a taste of political muscles
when he faces the Commission on Appointments for confirmation. This
is just a beginning. In his seven-year term, if he lasts that long,
there will be many attempts to break civil service rules through the
backdoor or through naked coercion.
On the specifics, the chairman should make full
use of the Career Executive Service Board to check on the fitness of
job candidates and screen out the unqualified.
The President from time to time creates a
special panel to search for the “best” nominees to an important
vacancy. The commission should be consulted on such headhunts
through a law, an executive order or the commission’s
assertiveness.
There ought to be a way to moderate the growing
“militarization” of high-level offices and to rationalize
political appointments in the foreign service.
Legislative career service
Reorganizing the Cabinet for greater
effectiveness or to address a political need is not enough. The
commission should guide Malacañang and Congress in mapping out a
long-term government-wide reorganization for economy, effectiveness
and efficiency.
Is it possible to review existing government
examinations (outside the CSC), including those of the Department of
Foreign Affairs, the Philippine Military Academy, the Philippine
Bar, etc., adopt their best features and integrate them into a new
model for pilot testing before official adoption?
Sen. Edgardo Angara has introduced a bill
seeking to create a legislative career service. Most appointments in
the House and Senate are political and co-terminus with the
lawmakers’ term, hurting professionalism and long-term work. The
system the bill proposes to create would be an excellent complement
to the Career Executive Service Program.
A David legacy
Before her retirement, Chairman Karina
Constantino David revised the statement of assets, liabilities and
net worth that is easier to accomplish and that promotes greater
transparency and accountability. Saludo should ensure that the new
statement is implemented immediately.
The national and local governments have made
great use of temporary workers, the “casuals” who do not enjoy
security and the rewards of full-time employment. The chairman
should see to their protection and welfare.
As well as the protection of all civil service
workers—from political pressure (sign this check or else),
extraneous work (poll duty for teachers) and the exploitation of low
wages that force many to moonlight or to succumb to petty graft.
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