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The Technical Education and Skills Development Authority placed a
newspaper ad last week, inviting qualified candidates to apply for
175 high-paying executive positions in the agency.
The positions, from manpower specialist to
director, offer salaries ranging from almost P20,000 to P44,000. But
the paper requirements are also high—a masteral degree and a
career executive service officer’s eligibility for the upper
positions and a bachelor’s degree and a basic civil service
eligibility for the lower ones.
The deadline for application is July 21. I
wonder how many have applied and been accepted, considering the
stringent requirements. I assume that not many have responded to the
job offers for lack of the necessary qualifications.
The key to a government position is civil
service eligibility. When one applies for a government job, the
first thing he is asked to show is his civil service eligibility. If
he has none, the government executive turns him down, with the
expedient excuse that he is not a civil service “eligible.”
If the applicant has a strong political backer,
he may be appointed as a casual. The main reason for the rising
number of casuals in government is their failure to take a civil
service test.
Why? Because the Civil Service Commission (CSC)
has done little to democratize access to civil service examinations.
It has prescribed draconian requirements for admitting test
applicants, effectively shutting the door to them.
The CSC conducts its tests sparingly—an
average of three examinations in a year. Worse, there is little
information about the date and place of an examination, limiting the
number of people to take it.
In the past, no examination fees were required
of applicants. Today, the CSC collects fees from examinees. The CSC
also used to hold tests for “walk-in” applicants, but this
laudable program has been apparently dropped
There were times when civil service examinations
for teachers were conducted in Hong Kong. I haven’t heard of a
similar initiative in recent years. Today, overseas Filipino workers
in need of civil service eligibility have to come home to take the
test.
Also in the past, college undergraduates with
sufficient work experience in government were allowed to take second
grade civil service tests. Their work experience made up for their
academic deficiency. Unfortunately, this was given up in the name of
“professionalization” in the civil service.
College graduates cannot always be presumed to
be better government workers. Many of those who dropped out of
college because of poverty have shown keener insights and surer
instincts.
The new CSC chairman, Secretary Ricardo Saludo,
has lots of work to do to improve the image of the agency as truly
pro-people in its policies and programs.
First and foremost, he should look into the
possibility of giving second grade civil service eligibility to the
thousands of government casuals with at least 15 years of service.
This will be a fitting reward for their loyalty and devotion to
public service.
It has been proven in many instances that casual
employees have a closer attachment to the virtues of honesty,
industry and dedication to their jobs than their superiors in the
public service.
Saludo should restore the policy of allowing
college undergraduates with a sufficient number of years in the
government service to take civil service tests. These people should
be given a chance to acquire a civil service eligibility to qualify
them for a permanent government job.
He should explore the feasibility of conducting
regular civil service examinations in Philippine embassies and
consulates abroad for our overseas workers. This will be in keeping
with the administration’s policy of bringing the government closer
to the people.
The CSC chairman should broaden the base of
career executive service officers by mobilizing the Career Executive
Service Board in coordination with the Development Academy of the
Philippines into conducting more regular development courses for
aspiring government senior executives.
This will afford several appointees to high
positions in the Cabinet the chance to possess the desired civil
service qualifications.
More importantly, Saludo should apply civil
service rules and regulations with impartiality and independence by
detaching himself from Malacañang and politics. The people look up
to him for the vigorous application of the merit system in the civil
service.
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