LEYTE NORMAL UNIVERSITY

TACLOBAN CITY

WRITTEN REPORT

IN

PHILIPPINE PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION

SUBMITTED BY:

Ms. Erna L. Murillo

AB-Pol.Sci. 3-1 SUBMITTED TO:
MTh 07:30-09:00
Mr. Paul G. Cipres
Instructor
reducing the ability of representative institutions to oversea the workings of government and they
expand the range of ministerial patronage and so contribute to the centralization of power.

STAFFING BUREAUCRACY IN A HIGHLY DEVELOPED STATE

Modern day bureaucracies in the Third \World are observed as relatively unrepresented,
meaning the bureaucracy is not staffed by the representation of all sectors of society. In the
Western World, the typical high-level servant is a male graduate, from an urban background and
from a middle or upper class family that was itself active in public affairs (Aberlach et al., 1981
as cited in Lazo, 2009). In the Philippines, however civil servants are determined based on merits
and fitness that the entry to the civil service eligibility examination. This exam does not
discriminate. As long as an applicant passed the eligibility test, he could apply to any
government agency of his choice.

COMPARATIVE CASE REVIEW

The theory of representative bureaucracy claims that a civil service recruited from all
sectors of the society will produce policies that are responsive to the public and, in that sense,
democratic: Recruitment (Hague 2001 citing Meier, 1993) in the civil service has evolved with
the development of Weberian bureaucracy, in a departmental specialist system; recruiters
follow a different philosophy from the generalist approach like Great Britain. They look for
specialist or experts for individual departments, with more movement in and out of civil society
at variety of levels. The French Ministry will recruit economists and department of Health will
employ staff with medical training. Recruitment is to particular posts, not to an elite groups or
corps. The model is common in countries with a weak state in which the administration lacks the
status produced by centuries service to pre-democratic rulers. The United States, the Netherlands
and New Zealand are examples. In the Netherlands, each department sets its own area. Once
appointed, mobility in the civil service is limited. Staff that remain in public service usually stay
in one department for the entire career(Andeweg and Irwin, 1993 as quoted in Hague, 2001). The
notion of recruiting talented young graduates to an elite, uniofied civil service is weak or
nonexistent.
 In many European Countries which a codified law tradition, a legal training is common
among higher bureaucrats. Therefore, a particular form of technical expertise in law is preferred.
In Germany alone, over 60% of top German bureaucrats or civil servants are lawyers, compared
to the United States with only 20% lawyers in the bureaucracy. The question of representative
bureaucracy as Hague (2001) stressed remains debatable. Three arguments support the thesis that
a bureaucracy should reflect the social profile of the population, thus:

1. Civil servants whose works involve direct contact with specific groups will be better at
the job if they also belong to the category. A shared language is the most obvious example but
the point can perhaps be extended to ethnicity and gender;
2. A civil service balanced between particular groups, such as religions or regions may
encourage stability in divided societies, such as Northern Ireland; and
3. Democracy is said to involved government by, and not just for, the people. A
representative civil service, involving participation by all major groups in the society, will
enhance the acceptability of decisions.

Nevertheless, the principle of recruitment of merit is fundamental to public

administration and should not be abandoned in favor of social engineering. The public interest is
best served by selecting the best people for the job, irrespective of their background. The correct
solution to under-representation is not possible discrimination but improving the qualifications of
the excluded minorities.

DYNAMICS OF MODERN BUREAUCACY

Traditional bureaucracies perform at least two of these basic functions, while some
bureaus are specializing, some are carrying out multiple functions, while the primary function of
the modern day government bureaucracy is the execution and enforcement of laws made by the
legislative department and the policies promulgated by the executive agency. It specifically
includes administering, advisory roles, providing for political stability, regulating and licensing,
among others. The characteristics of the functions of modern bureaucracies are:
 1. Administering Services: Administration is the implementation of public policy and
because it involves policy decisions, it also entails rule-making power. Administration is the task
of coordinating or executing policy. It is the main function of government bureaucracy that is the
execution of laws and policies enacted by the state. It should be distinguished that the
responsibility of politicians is toward policy-making for bureaucrats’ administrative
responsibilities that range from implementation of delivery of basic services to the regulation of
economy, the granting of licenses, and the provision of information gathering and dissemination.
In relation to the responsibilities of civil servants, they also initiate a campaign to publicize their
work and educate the public on the benefits and objectives of a program. However, the style of
administration changes from one country to another. In China, the Communist party acts as a
watchdog over the works of the bureaucrats. All administrative leaders are all members who are
engaged in decision making and all offices have party people in them. In Great Britain, nboth the
executives and the administrators supervise the daily operations of their departments, higher
administrative officials help formulate legislation as well as help their ministers respond to
questions posed by members of Congress.
2. Stabilizingthe Organization:Government bureaucratic organizations through the
working staff provide focus for continuity and stability within the political system. The function
is necessarily important among developing states, “where the existence of a body of trained
career officials may provide the only guarantee that government is conducted in an orderly and
reliable fashion.” This guarantee is precipitated by the fact that while administration do come
and go; bureaucrats or the civil servants are rather permanent and they are always there.
Professional career bureaucrats believed firmly that they are in better positions defining the
common goal or the public interest closely through elected or appointed administrators. Thus,
they have bigger propensity in resisting any radical change introduced by the politicians since
they regard themselves as the protector and promoter of the peoples general welfare.
3.Advising Provision:The bureaucracy is the source of policy information and the
provider of advice to the government. Decisions are reached on the basis of information and
opinion. Information is essential for it leads to policy decisions that are rational and resp[onsive,
and it verifies whether a law has been breached. The difference between the civil servants and
politicians are regards organizing policy is that politicians formulate and legislate policies whi;le
the civil servants merely extend advice. It may be noted then that civil servants assume two
functions: verify policy options, and evaluate policy options in terms of benefits or counter-
benefits. Heywood (2002) argued on the significance of the policy roles of the civil servants,
“decisions are made from information gathered, and this means that the content of decisions are
invariably structured by the advice offered . Moreover, as the principal source of advice
available to politicians, bureaucrats effectively control the flow of information. Politicians know
what civil servants tell them. Information can thus be concealed or atleast shaped to reflect the
preferences of the civil service. The principal source of bureaucratic power is nevertheless the
expertise and specialized knowledge that accumulates within the bureaucracy .’’
4. Policy Regulating and Licensing: Bureaucratic organization peddles also in the
provision of regulatory services to promote and protect the interest of the public through the
establishment of operation guidelines and keeping the standards on the run. Specific statutes or
laws usually organize regulatory agencies. However, government agencies or departments may
also set-up non-statutory organizations to offer advice or provide executive function in
specialized areas of activity. Hague (2001) noted,” whether a particular function is handled by a
statutory or non-statutory body varies by country but non-statutory examples might include
scientific advisory panels, research funding committees, arts councils,. And training boards.
Although much of their work is routine, non-statutory bodies still attract recurring, sometimes
prolonged, criticism. In contrast to bodies established under the laws, they usually report to the
sponsoring minister, not to the assembly. Membership tends to be seen as political patronage and
accountability is regarded as opaque and intermittent.” Licensing is directly connected to
regulations for it enables the government to improve minimum standards and qualifications and
administer the test in certain areas telecommunications, broadcasting, land transportation, and so
forth.

CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM: The Philippine Experience

The civil service refers to the body of employees in any government agency including all
employees in the government in general. It covers the Congress, the Judiciary, and Executive
Department. Thus, it embraces all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities and agencies of thew
government, including government owned or controlled corporations with original charters. It
basically the workforce of the state. In the Philippines, the administration of civil service is
provided in the legal framework:
 The civil service shall administered by the Civil Service Commission composed
of the Chairman and the two Commissioners who shall be a natural born Citizen of the
Philippines and, at the time of their appointment, at least 35 years of age, with proven
capacity for public administration, and must not have been candidate for any elective
position in the elections immediately preceding their appointment (Art. IX, Sec 1,1987
Philippine Constitution).
The Civil Service System in the Philippines is a product of the American Regime in the
country, inspired by the Pendleton Act of the early 1990s. Historically, our experience with the
modern civil service is more than a century old, preceding this experience was more than three
centuries of Spanish Rule.

DEVELOPMENT OF CIVIL SERVICE IN THE PHILIPPINES

In 1900, the second Philippine Commission established formally the Civil Service
System in the Philippines pursuant to Public Law No. 5, “An Act for the Establishment and
Maintenance of our Efficient and Honest Civil Service in the Philippine Island.” A Civil Service
Board was created composed of a chairman, a secretary, and a chief examiner. The Board
administered Civil service Examinations and set standards for appointment in government
service. The Board was reorganized into a bureau five years later in 1905.
The 1935 Philippine Constitution firmly established the merit system as the basis for
employment in government. Thus, it became a statutory body under the commonwealth period
beginning in 1935 . The following years also witnessed the expansion of the Bureau’s
jurisdiction to include the three branches of government: the national government, local
government, and government corporations.
Later on, Republic Act 2260, otherwise known as the Civil service Law, was enacted in
1959. This was the first integral law on the Philippine bureaucracy, superseding the scattered
administrative order relative to government personnel administration issued since 1900. This Act
converted the Bureau of Civil Service into the Civil Service Commission with department status.
In 1975, Presidential Decree No. 807 (The Civil Service Decree of the Philippines)
redefined the role of the Commission as the central personnel agency of the government. Then it
developed into the present mandate—the Civil Service Commission which is institutionalized
under Article IX-B of the 1987 Constitution that was given effect through Book V of Executive
Order No. 292 or the Administrative Code of 1987.
Thereupon, the Code essentially reiterates existing principles and policies in the
administration of bureaucracy and recognizes, for the first time, the right of government
employees to self organization and collective negotiations under the framework of the 1987
Constitution.

CATEGORY OF CIVIL SERVICE

Career Service
The entry to a civil service career is based on merit and fitness to be determined as far as
practicable by competitive examinations based on highly technical qualifications, opportunity for
advancement to higher career positions, and security of tenure. The Civil Service includes
(Administrative Code of 1987):

a. Open career positions for appointment to which prior qualification in an appropriate

examination is required;
b. Closer career positions, which are scientific and highly technical in nature. These
includes the faculty members of state colleges and universities; scientific and technical
positions, among others;
c. Career Executive Service, namely: department secretary, undersecretary, bureau director,
assistant bureau director, or other officers rank as identified by the Career Executive
Service Board;
d. Permanent laborers, whether skilled, semi-skilled or unskilled;
e. Personnel of government owned or controlled corporation, whether performing
governmental and propriety functions who do not fall under the non-career service; and
f. Commissioned officers and enlisted men of the Armed forces, which shall maintain a
separate merit system.

Non-career service is characterized by entrance on bases other than those of usual tests of
merit and fitness utilized for the Career Service and tenure which ios limited to a period
 specified by law, or which is coterminous with that of the appointing authority or subject to
his pleasure, or which is limited to the duration of a particular subject for which purpose
employment was made.
a. Elective officials, and their personal and confidential staff;
b. Department heads and officials with cabinet ranks who hold office at the pleasure of the
President and their personal and confidential staff;
c. Chairman and members of Commissions and Boards with fixed terms of office and their
personal or confidential staff;
d. Contractual personnel to undertake a specific work or job, requiring special or technical
skills not available in the employing agency to be accomplished within a specified period
in no case shall exceed one year under their own responsibility, with the minimum
direction and supervision; and
e. Emergency and seasonal personnel.

POSITIONS EXEMPT FROM EXAMINATIONS

Generally, recruitment in the Civil Service is based on competitive examinations;
however there are government items that are exempt from taking and passing merit examination.
Exempted in the Civil Service Examinations are positions that are policy determining, highly
technical, primarily confidential.
By policy determining, we mean that a position is reserve to someone who exudes
competence in decision-making process and public policy system like politicians and cabinet
secretaries. By highly technical office, we mean that one should possess the technical and
necessary skills and trainings in a related field. Professional and competent persons fit this
particular degree or office like professors or scientists. And by confidential position, we mean
that the position requires not only confidence in the aptitude of the appointee for the duties of
the officials, but close intimacy which ensures freedom of intercourse without embarrassment or
freedom from misgiving or betrayals of personal trust or confidential matters of the state (e.g.,
clerks or drivers).

RECRUITMENT AND APPOINTMENT IN CIVIL SERVICE

 The 1987 Administrative Code of the Philippines reads that opportunity of government
employment shall be open to all qualified citizens and positive efforts shall be exerted to attract
the best qualified to enter the service. Employees shall be selected on the basis of fitness to
perform the duties and assume the responsibilities of the positions.
Appointment in the Civil Service is based on the merit system determined by the
competitive career examination, which is categorized into sub-professional examination and
professional examination for higher administrative positions. More qualified persons who are
exempt from the requirement of the Civil Service exam are technical Staff and highly skilled
position in the service. They are called Technocrats who specialized in their chosen field of
expertise and those devoid or partisan politics to assume relatively sensitive and technical offices
(Art. IX_B, Sec. 1).
The scope of civil service bureaucracy is far and wide covering entirely the whole gamut
of government force. Article IX-B, Section 2 “appointment in the Civil Service shall be made
according to merit and fitness to be determined, as far as practicable, and, except to positions
which are policy determining, primary confidential, or highly technical, by competitive
examination.” Likewise, the Constitution declares some prohibititions in the Civil service agency
in which include, among others:
a. No officer or employee of the civil service shall be removed or suspended except for
cause provided by law;
b. No officer employee in the civil service shall engage, directly, in any el;ectionering or
partisan political campaign, and;
c. The right to self organization shall not be denied to government employees.
An appointment through certification to a position in civil service however, shall be issued to
a person who has been selected from a list of qualified person certified by the commission from
an appropriate register to eligible candidates, and who meets all the other requirements of the
position. All such persons must serve a probitionary period of six months following their original
appointment and shall undergo a through character investigation in order to acquire permanent
civil service status.
For every position in government, minimum standards are set pertaining to education,
training, experience, and eligibility requirements. The standard have been upgraded, e.g., a
higher minimum passing mark in the eligibility examination from 70% to 80% and a master
degree for chief poisition. Only those who meet the minimum requirements of the vacant
position shall be considered for permanent position. (Policies in the Phil. Civil Service, UN
Report, 2004).
Our bureaucacy is an ever growing organization, while to a large extent government has
been termed as the employer of last resort or fit only for the “rejects” of the private sector pose a
rather big challenge for the government. Hence, the issue of selection and recruitment in getting
good people to join government and make them stay is something to be tackled. Government
should look into a competitive salary package in order to attract the best and the brightest. In
fact, honor graduates from recognized tertiary schools in the Philippines are granted out right
civil service eligibility certificate (professional) with tghe view that they consider working in the
government service. As what Former CSC Secretary Sto. Tomas said in this regard:

Attracting the best and the brightest is a priority in the selection and recruitment process. Beyond
this however, it is proposed that the establishment of an elite corps of really good people who were given all the
motivation and incentives to join and stay with the government. This elite group will refuse fresh, young blood into
the bureaucacy; we are speaking here of honor graduates and natural born leaders who made their ranks in the
academe. Their talent will now be harnessed for the public service.

REMUNERATION
According to 1987 Constitution, Article IX-B, Sec. 5, 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.
Also, under Executive Order No. 292, a particular section reads that adjustments in
salaries as a result of increase in pay levels or upgrading of positionswhich do not involve a
change in qualification requirements shall not require a new appointment except that copies of
the salary adjustment notices shall be submitted to the Commissiuon for record purposes.
Perhaps, the poor quality of services rendered by civil servants is attributed to low
motivational factor, foremost of which is the meager salary level of government employees and
officials as compared to the salary package of private sector employees. Based on NEDA report,
the considerable amount of money needed to improve the salary levels of government officials
had been a major constraint. Nevertheless, there was a major effort through the Salary
Standardization Law. While previous administrations have tried to increase the salaries and
benefit of government workers, discrepancy still existed between salary ranges in the
government and the private sector.
On the contrary, it is noted that the upgrading of salary scales for public servants makes
them competitive with those in the private sector, following the implementation of the Salary
Standardization Law on two parts, which started on 1994 and was fully implemented in
November 1997. Other monetary benefits granted include the increase in overtime pay from
100% of basic pay to 150% on holidays and weekends. They also is the expansion of the
coverage of the Personnel Economic Relief Assistance (PERA) to all employees, and likewise
the provisions for productivity pay, hazard pay and anniversary bonus, among others.

PROMOTION AND PERFORMANCE EVALUATION

A promotion is a movement from one position to another with an increase in duties and
responsibilities as authorized by law and usually accompanied by an increase in pay. The
movement may be from one organizational unit to another in the same department or agency.
Within the same level, no civil examination shall be required for promotion to a hgher
position in one more related occupational groups. A candidate for promotion should, however,
have previously passed the examinartion for that level. When a vacancy occurs a position in the
first/second level in the career service as defined above, the employees in the
department/government service who shall occupy the next lower positions in the occupational
group under which the vacant position is classified, and in other functionally related occupational
groups and who are competent, qualified and with the appropriate civil service eligibility shall be
considered for promotion.
The competence of the employees of the civil service is gauged through the
administration of a perfomance evaluation system, which is done evry six months. Those who
perform well and exceed the target by more than 50% may be given an outstanding rating. The
employee could also be a candidate for promotion and may be rewarded through other forms of
incentives. On the other hand, a poor performance could be a ground for seperation from the
service. These is an honor awards Program conferred by the President of the Philippines which
recognizes outstanding employees every year. The granting of annual awards like Lingkod
Bayan and the Dangal ng Bayan Awards make civil servants savor their worth and competence
in the public service arena.
The Civil Service today ducuments successful efforts in measuring performance in
various agencies and enables these agencies to reward outstanding performers by providing a
special fund for the purpose. The civil service system also demonstrate a certain degree of
productivity because it can now attract and retain personnel whose performance is regularly
evaluated and used as a basis for decisions on promotion and other rewards.

GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT CENTER

In 1975, the National Commission on the Role Filipino Women (NCRFW) was
established to review, evaluate and recommend measures, including priorities to ensure the full
integration of women for economic, social and cultural development at all levels, and to ensure
further the equality between men and women.
All government agencies have been enjoined to establish their own Gender and
Development (GAD) point persons. The NCRFW also oversees the implementation of the
Inbstitutional Strengthening Project Phase II which aims to strenghten the capabilities of
oversight agencies in mainstreaming gender concerns in planning, policy formulation, program
development and implementation, and monitoring and evaluation.
The medium Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 2001-2004 further ensured
that programs and projects financed by the national budget and Official Development Assistace
(ODA) appropriately integrated women and gender concerns. The Philippine Civil Servicew
Commission, as the central personnel agency, has been working with mainstreaming gender and
development concerns in the recruitmentr, appointment, promotion, and retention purposes.
There are laws passed which adress women’s career concerns like the Philkippine National
Police Act of 1998 (RA 8551), otherwise known as Reform and Reorganization of the Philippine
National Police (PNP), mandates that 10% of the police force should be women, and the Solo
Parent’s Welfare Act of 2000 (RA 8972) which basically relieve solo parents of the burden of
raising a family alone by institutionalizing adequate state assistance and relevant support services
both for the solo parents and their children.

PERSONNEL TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT

 The Philippine Civil Service Commission made a policy that employees are to be
provided with at least one human resource development inyterventions every year for their
personal growth and career advancement. A local and international scholarship program was
launched to provide education and other learning opportunities for various levels of personnel.
As reported by the UN-Division for Public Administration and Development
Management (DPADM) under the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (DESA) in 2004,
in this wise, by adopting the declaration of EO 292:

The development and retention of a competent and efficient workforce in the

public service is a primary concern of government. It shall be the policy of the Philippine
Government that a continuing program of career and personnel development be
established for all government employees at all levels. An integrated national plan for
career and personnel development shall serve as the basis for all career and personnel
development activities in the government. (p. 13)

It added that each department or agency shall prefer career and personnel development
plan which shall be integrated into a national plan by the Commission. Such career and personnel
development plans which shall include provisions on merit promotions, performance evaluation,
in-service training, including overseas and local scholarships and training grants, job rotation,
suggestions and incentive award systems, and such other provisions of employees, health,
welfare, counseling, recreation, and similar services.
Central staff agencies and specialized institutes shall conduct continuing centralized
training for staff specialists from the different agencies. However, those cases where there is
sufficient number of participants to warrant training at department or agency or local government
level, such central staff agencies and specialized institute shall render the necessary assistance
and consultative services.

SOME ISSUE AND CONCERNS IN THE PHILIPPINE CIVIL SERVICE

Unlike politicians who are elected, civil servants belong to the world of unelected
government personnel who in contrast with the elected politicians cannot be accounted for their
actions in the same manner as the elected ones. To tackle accountability, there are existing
accountability, there are existing laws to adress their conduct with sanctions to erring members .
in the Philippines, the issue of accountability is simply one of the many concerns that the central
government needs to adress in order to reform the bureaucacy. Reforming the civil service is a
continuing efforts so that public service may come and reach the people just the way they are
expected to do. Some civil service issues and dillemas are hereby briefly presented.

THE QUESTION OF NUMBERS VS. PERFORMANCE

Is the Philippine bureaucacy bloated? Is there a need to reorganize the system by
streamlining it? Records show that the ratio of our civil servants per population size is: 1:60, and
in truth this ratio may not be big after all, but rather it is small (or unresponsive?) if we compare
it to the United States at 1:112 or India 1:141 or with Singapore’s 1:78. Put it scuccintly, a
government employee, for example,is servicing 60 individuals, meaning one attending to the
needs of 60 persons. Isn’t it that big?
But France, being modrern yet highly democratic state, has a ratio of 1:13. France with a
population of about 66M has civil service force at around 5M, compared to a larger population in
the Philippines would only 1.5M Roughly then, our bureaucacy, technically, is not bloated or
oversized as some critics would want to believe.
More than the numbers is the work performance of the bureaucacy. It is expected that
Civil Servants are professinal, Politically neutral and accountable at all time to the public whom
they served. In the Philippines, the Civil Service is organized around three guiding principles
(Abueva, 1998: 107)
a. Merit and fitness shall govern its recruitment procedures.
b. Its political neutrality shall ensure that it is responsive to the people through their elected
representatives and that it does not take any active part in, or use its institutional power
for, any partisan political; activity and;
c. Security of tenure shall protect civil servamnts from removal without due cause.
In fact, one common preception is that a government career virtually offers lifetime employment
since security of tenure, as one principle in the civil service, is often regarded as a gurantee of a
job until retirement. It has been proposed earlier on to abolish the notion of making security of
tenure as the main attraction among the entrants, but rather the security of tenure should be
largely dependent on the work performance, which in short would mean that the poor work
performance (as determined by competent evaluation) should result in separation from service.
This proposal however, was flatly rejected as contrary to law.
Hence, adherence to this guiding principles is regarded as a way to ensure better working
civil bureaucracy. Earlier stated, civil servants should be professionals, competent, efficient, and
responsive to the political direction of elective leaders and “top administrators committed to
implement policies and programs, honest and accountable to the pol,itical leaders and the people
they are expected to serve.”

CIVIL SERVICE AND POLITICAL EXECUTIVES

Historically, the civil service has been subordinate and accountable to the president and
the congress. With his execiutive office in Malacañang palace and his cabinet members as heads
of executive depertments, the president exercises his executive and administrative functions
throughout the bureaucacy. The latter is responsible at the frontlines for the delivery of the
governments various services to the people and the performance of its regulatory functions.