Civil Service System in the Philippines

Civil Service System in the Philippines was considered as on of the most important
element of public administration. Managing it had always been a concern for a number of years
already. Various reformatory platforms and programs were developed and implemented by every
leaders of the past administrations and even these have shifted from one strategy to another
depending on the vision of who was seated in the government. According to the results of the
country governance assessment of the Philippines, issues being faced by the country’s Civil
Service System are as follows: (1) planning mechanism; (2) performance measures; (3)
government reorganization; (4) bureaucratic behavior; (5) political influence; (6) competencies,
compensation, and morale; and (7) personnel distribution and representatives. Philippine leaders
have pursued policy and institutional frameworks to promote professionalism, meritocracy,
efficiency and accountability in the civil service system[CITATION Beh \l 1033 ]. In light of the
current situation, did the various administrations, along with their implemented reformation
programs, became successful in resolving the challenges faced by the civil service system? How
far had the Philippine Civil Service System developed?

Following the World War II, every political administration in the Philippines has
endeavored to reform the public sector. Some of these are the Integrated Reorganization Plan
(IRP) of 1972 under President Marcos that provided for decentralization, downsizing of the
bureaucracy, and standardization of departmental organization, the creation of the Presidential
Committee on Public Ethics and Accountability and the Presidential Commission on Good
Government by President Aquino to restore government integrity and public confidence and
establishes the guidelines for promoting public participation and private initiative in the affairs of
the state, the New Public Management (NPM) paradigm of President Ramos that creates a
blueprint for re-engineering the bureaucracy by attuning civil service reform with the global
trend popularized by Osborne and Gaebler, the EO No. 165 forming the Presidential Committee
on Executive Governance (PCEG) to formulate an institutional strengthening and streamlining
program for the executive branch and the Program on Re-engineering the Bureaucracy for Better
Governance Program of President Estrada and President Arroyo’s streamlining of bureaucracy
by reactivating the PCEG and issuance of Memorandum Order No. 93 directing the creation of
six sub-committees to assist the PCEG[ CITATION Beh \l 1033 ]. All of these initiatives were
formulated with a common goal: to strengthen, stabilized and improve the Philippine Civil
Service System. But do they succeed? For me, yes, a sort of, but not totally. The current state of
government performance and development results indicate that a perfect reformation has not
been realized. Today, the Philippines is increasingly falling behind its Asian counterparts.
According to Mangahas 2008, evidence suggests that after the momentous restoration of
democracy in 1987 and the myriad of governance reforms as well as the pockets of successes in
putting in place transparent and accountable administrative systems at different levels of
government, the country as a whole remains to be in poor state of governance [ CITATION Beh \l
1033 ].

The public service, made up of those employees of the state who are covered by national
and sub-national civil service laws, plays an indispensable role in the sustainable
development and good governance of a nation. It is an integral part of democracy because
 it serves as the neutral administrative structure which carries out the decisions of elected
representatives of the people.[ CITATION Uni00 \l 1033 ]
Public service not only acts as the state's backbone in implementing a nation's economic
growth strategy, but it also administers programs that serve as a safety net for society's most
vulnerable members. Given these critical functions, a country expects its public service to uphold
high professional and ethical standards. Professionalism in the public service is an over-arching
value that determines how its activities will be carried out. It encompasses all other values that
guide the public service such as loyalty, neutrality, transparency, diligence, punctuality,
effectiveness, impartiality, and other values. Evaluating the professionalism in the Philippine
Civil Service System, it suggests that it is not drastically impaired. The position classification,
compensation structure, and entry requirement are not ill-structured. If we base it on the
outcomes of civil service examinations, entry to career posts in the civil service is very
competitive, and compensation packages are not as poor as in medium-sized enterprises,
particularly at the first and second level civil service. Despite those claims, there remains key
institutional reforms that need to be pursued. One is corruption. With the advent of the modern
state, government officials have been and are seen as stewards of public resources and guardians
of a special trust that the citizenry has placed in them. In return for this public confidence, they
are expected to put the public interest above self-interest. Thus, the most commonly accepted
definition of corruption is some variation of the notion, “the abuse of public office for private
gain.” Corruption hinders the public service professionalism. It deviates the notion that those
people who join the public service need to be inculcated with shared values of truthfulness and
honesty and trained in basic skills to professionally act out their duty. Another is the highly
politicized Career Executive Service-where appointments of CES officials disregard CES
eligibility rules and procedures- has been seen as a limitation in professionalizing the entire
system. Political favors are very apparent. Thus, meritocracy was also affected. Meritocracy
should be a government by those with talent. The most able people will produce the best possible
results and therefore the public welfare of the whole population. Meritocracy must offer a fair
system. Meritocracy in the Philippines is still not well established. There still exists the
traditional career system where new positions are being created to accommodate political
appointees, but at least, there are existing safeguards that diminishes and hopefully will eliminate
this constraint.

Reforms in the civil service must be accompanied by attempts to strengthen

The restructurings in the public sector provide chances for government efficiency and
effectiveness. Although Philippines had engaged in some institutional and various reforms, the
empirical evidence of their impact on efficiency is so far limited due to prevalent corruption and
vested interests of some politicians. The same as how corruption disrupts initiatives to achieve
accountability, it also impedes government effectiveness in service delivery and undermines the
country’s ability to pursue development objectives. However, measures to combat government
corruption have been made. There are various laws that addresses the subject of graft and
corruption. Presently, the main reference is the Revised Penal Code of 1960, referred to as the
Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, and the 1987 Constitution (Article XI). Some of the
notable anti-corruption initiatives are the public procurement reforms spearheaded by the DBM.
These include the issuance of executive orders to facilitate increased competition and reduce
delays in bidding and the implementation of the electronic procurement system. These have
further strengthened the policy framework to reduce the opportunities for corruption as well as to
increase the risks of getting caught. Under the leadership of the COA, key financial management
reforms were undertaken, including the simplification and computerization of the government
accounting system, the shift from residency auditing to audit team approach, and the introduction
of participatory audit with civil society organizations [ CITATION Beh \l 1033 ]. The Civil Service
Commission plays a preventative role in the fight against corruption by establishing criteria for
government appointments, as well as a punitive function by enforcing civil service rules
violations. Still, comprehensive public sector reforms advocated and supported by development
organizations should not overshadow improving the civil service as an institution-its basic
systems and procedures, structures, administrative values and competences, including
recruitment, entry, appointments, position classification, and compensation structure, human
resource development, incentives, and so on.

Did the various administrations, along with their implemented reformation programs,
became successful in resolving the challenges faced by the civil service system? How far had the
Philippine Civil Service System developed? Well, the reformations for better civil service system
had gone through a lot. Although previous administrations' reformation programs may not have
achieved their exact purpose, but we cannot deny that the public service system in the country
has evolved and matured as a result of such initiatives. We live in an era of realignment. As is
true of all transitional periods, very different expressions of the human predicament coexist in
uneasy tension today: globalization envelops the world even as fragmentation and the assertion
of differences are on the rise; zones of peace expand while outbursts of horrific violence
intensify; unprecedented wealth is being created but large pockets of poverty remain endemic;
the will of the people and their integral rights are both celebrated and violated; science and
technology enhance human life at the same time as their by-products threaten planetary life-
support systems. It is not beyond the powers of political volition to tip the scale in this transition,
towards a more secure and predictable peace, greater economic well-being, social justice and
environmental sustainability. Reforming the civil service system to make it flawless remained to
be a never-ending battle.