THE NATIONAL CIVIL SERVICE SYSTEM between the letter of the law, which

OF THE PHILPPINES
upheld idealistic and noble standards,
Jose N. Endriga
and actual practice, which was repressive
and oppressive.
Introduction
AMERICAN REGIME
 The civil service system of the Philippines
is a product of its colonial history under  Introduced a bureaucracy whose
Spain and United States of America. philosophy and principles represented a
 The present form and substance derives complete change from that of the Spanish
largely from the American experience. period.
 The timing of its introduction (the
Development of the Civil Service
legislation which established the
 The civil service, formally defined, is a Philippine civil service in 1900 was one of
legacy of Western colonization, with its the first laws passed by the Philippine
present state owing more to the United Commission) was also fortuitous, for by
States. 1900s the American civil service had
 The Philippine’s cultural inadequacy undergone a stormy development which
(Corpuz 1957) made conquest by Spain resulted in the upholding of the principle
as easy enterprise. of political neutrality, in addition to the
established ones of merit, fitness and
SPANISH REGIME efficiency.
 For the first time the principle that a
 Spanish hegemony, which lasted for more
public office is a public trust was
than three centuries, is credited among
practiced. Civil servants were made
positive and negative legacies, with
accountable to the public and the letter
imposing centralized government in the
as well as the spirit of the law was
islands and introducing bureaucracy as an
enforced.
institution, including a system of public
 In the early years of American rule, the
revenues and expenditures.
civil service was dominated by
 The members of the bureaucracy
Americans.
administered the affairs of the colonial
 Democratic administrations in the United
population as a whole in the name of the
States, however, adopted a policy of
colonial power.
Filipinizaton of the service which
 In accordance with the colonial theory
alternating Republican could not undo.
that subject peoples were morally and
politically inferior, office holding for Factors at work which prevented a
Filipinos was confined to the lowest levels policy of ‘government by Americans
of government, town and village. assisted by Filipinos’
 The policy and the practice also made it
much easier for the Spaniards to impose 1. Uncertain status of the United States’
exactions since the agents acting for the stay in the Philippines, the issue being an
regime were not only Filipinos important one that divided the
themselves but were leaders of pre- Republicans and the Democrats.
Spanish society whom the masses were 2. Widespread and universal education
accustomed to obeying. system established in the country
 The outstanding characteristics of the supplied a steady pool of candidates for
Spanish colonial bureaucracy in the public service.
Philippines was the wide discrepancy
 The civil service was almost completely 3. Creation of a Wage and Position
manned by Filipinos by the time Philippine Classification Office
Commonwealth was established in 1935.
Despite such changes, many defects
INDEPENDENCE (1946) continued to plague the civil service:
 Increased demands and responsibilities 1. Inability of the Bureau of Civil Service
on its political and administrative system. to function with the efficiency
 The tasks were made even more by the expected of a central personnel
problems brought about by the Second agency
World War: 2. Delays in recruitment, examination
▪ Economic prostration and severe and placement of employees
physical destruction of the country 3. Over-centralization of authority in the
▪ Political amorality manifested Bureau
vastly increased incidence of graft 4. Inadequate discipline of civil service
and corruption. – result of the years employees
of Japanese occupation when there 5. The presence of thousands of
was severe demoralization of the temporary employees in the
civil service and the various competitive service
opportunities to subvert the enemy 6. The inability to attract persons of high
partook of the characteristics of caliber into the civil service
patriotism instead of wrongdoing. 7. Widespread use of the spoils system
8. Rampant graft and corruption
Bell Mission Report 1950
MARTIAL LAW REGIME
 The war and disorder that followed had
made it difficult to restore administrative  First presidential decree- implementation
efficiency. of the Integrated Reorganization Plan,
 The civil service system, although which had been passed but not acted
designed to be based on merit, does not upon by the Philippine Congress that he
function this way. abolished.
Recommendation Integrated Reorganization Plan
 A special effort must now be made to 1. Reduction of the number of agencies
improve the public administration in order under the Office of the President
to give the people confidence in the 2. The Standardization of departmental
government. organization
 The success of the development program 3. The establishment of National
may depend more on the efficiency and Economic and Development Authority
honesty of the public service than on any
single factor. Structural changes and innovations to
strengthen the merit system as far as the
Government Survey and Reorganization civil service itself was concerned,
Commission includes:
- Proposed organizational reforms in 1. Conversion of the single-headed Civil
practically all areas covered by the Service Commission into a three-man
cabinet. body
1. Position classification 2. The decentralization of personnel
2. Standard pay plan functions to line departments
 3. Bureau and regional offices
4. The provision of more effective
policies on personnel selection,
promotion, discipline and training
5. The formation of the Career Executive
Service
Mr. Marcos also made the civil service
more subservient than at any other time
in its history
1973 and 1975- thousands of government
employees , including members were
fired, delivered the message that the
regime gave a strong impression that it
was serious about modernizing and
professionalizing the civil service as never
before.
With the abolition of the Congress, the
president took the authority to create
governmental agencies and to make
budgetary appropriations.
In bringing about his reforms Mr. Marcos
was assisted effectively by two groups
who acquired tremendous power during
martial rule: the military and the
technocrats.
AQUINO ADMINISTRATION
 For bureaucracy- guidelines such as
promotions of private initiative,
decentralization, accountability,
efficiency of front-line services and
cost effectiveness of operations were
established early.
 Resorted to a purge of thousands of civil
servants through the expedient of
reorganization
 Those who were reorganized out of their
positions were replaced by new
appointees who did not enter the service
via the traditional route, many of them
coming from the private sector.
 Those who lost their jobs found their
causes taken up by the press, members
of Congress, and by employee
organizations, the emergence of which
was encouraged by a provision of the new
Constitution which guaranteed the right
of civil servants to organize, although not
to strike.
Other initiatives that sought to
strengthen the civil service:
1. Tanodbayan: Special Prosecutor
and the Ombudsman
2. Sandiganbayan
3. Commission on Audit (COA)
4. Civil Service Commission (CSC)
5. Presidential Committee on Public
Ethics and Accountability
6. Various agencies streamlined their
operations and used volunteers as
watchdogs to prevent graft
7. Presidential Commission on Good
Governance (PCGG)
RAMOS ADMINISTRATION
 President has not taken any bold or
innovative initiatives concerning the civil
service since the government has
acquired a power in a peaceful transition,
such continuity is expected.
 Its main concern has been economic
growth in which it has succeeded
considerably.
 Traditional view of the civil service as an
instrument for national development.
 Resorted to various privatization schemes
and has otherwise defined its philosophy
to be that of steering, not rowing.
 A past initiative to grant the President the
authority to streamline the bureaucracy in
accordance with this new philosophy
appears to have lost steam; it may be
revived but it seems to have lost the
urgency it once had. Other concerns
seem to have taken over.
INTERNAL LABOUR MARKET
Job definition and classification system:
 Rigid, centralized job definition and
classification system operates in the
entire civil service. Employees without permanent appointment
are still eligible for nomination, under the
 Republic Act 6758 (An Act Prescribing a
following conditions:
Revised Compensation and Position
Classification System in the government). 1. They are involved in foreign-assisted
 The centralized system classifies projects, in which part of the agreement
positions into several categories: includes training and scholarship grants for
PROFESSIONAL (both supervisory and project staff members;
non-supervisory) SUB-PROFESSIONAL
(also supervisory or non-supervisory); 2. They are members of the academic staff
and constitutionally mandated positions of a State college or university lacking either
and their equivalent. a master or doctoral degree, or in
requirements for residency. Taking up and
Promotion:
completing the scholarship/training grant
 Once recruited, mobility for the civil would qualify them for permanent
servant hinges primarily on satisfactory appointment or completion of residency
job performance. requirements;

 The next in-rank principle must abide by
the requirement that those to be
promoted should be competent, qualified
and with the appropriate civil service
eligibility (Executive Order 292, Chapter
5, Section 21).
 The rules also allow for the promotion of
an employee who is not necessarily next
in line. However, the civil servant being
considered for promotion must
demonstrate superior competence and
qualifications compared with the next-in-
rank employee. The comparison is based
on the candidates’ performance,
education and training; experience and
outstanding accomplishments; physical
characteristics and personality traits; and
potential.
Staff development:
 Human resources development plays an
important role in the mobility,
productivity and vitality of the civil
service.
 In the Philippines an integrated training
and performance evaluation system has
been in place for a long time for all levels
of government personnel.
 Personnel Development Committee.
3. They are employees in highly scientific
fields critical to national development in
which there are only a few educationally
qualified personnel;
4. They have been personally invited or
nominated by agencies directly contacted by
a sponsoring entity offering training or
scholarship grants.
Job security and membership:
 While civil service rules uphold the
security of tenure of civil servants, it is
not considered as an absolute right.
 Republic Act 7430, commonly called the
Attrition Law.
 Part of the internal labour market are the
criteria for pension and eligibility for
retirement benefits.
 Job Security can also be gleaned from the
ratio of peripheral and core positions.
➢ As of December 1995, there was a
total of 853,982 filled-up positions in
government, including casuals and
contractuals. In the national
government, most (94.03 percent) of
the civil service personally occupy
 regular positions while slightly less
than 6 percent are
casuals/contractuals.
➢ In government corporations, the bulk
of the personnel occupy permanent
positions (82.56 percent); the rest are
casuals or contractuals.
- A basic requirement for membership in
the government service is the
possession of educational and training
qualifications and the appropriate civil
service eligibility.
- Executive Order 292, Section 21).
- Eligibility is valid and sufficient for
purpose of promotion to higher
positions in the same or related
occupational groups within the same
level.
In addition to passing the examinations, civil
service eligibility is also conferred on those
who have:
1. Graduated with honours in officially
recognized colleges, universities and
institutions (PD 907).
2. Finished courses in scientific fields (PD
947);
3. Obtained a certificate of proficiency in
their chosen arts or crafts, as attested by the
Technical education and skills Development
authority;
4. Passed the professional board examination
(for example, for engineers, doctors) or the
examinations for the bar, and are thus
holders of licenses issued by the Professional
Regulation Commission.
Reward Structure:
 Civil Service pay is guided by Republic Act
6758, which identifies the four main
divisions of civil service positions and
their corresponding salary grades.
 The professional supervisory category
which involves responsible positions of a
managerial character, starts from salary
Grade 9 (P8,067) and goes up to Salary
Grade 33 (P50,000). The professional non-
supervisory category is assigned the Salary
Grades 8 (P7,540) to 30 (P25,000). The
sub-professional supervisory category is
assigned Salary Grades 4 (P5,646) to 18
(P13,715). The last category, the sub-
professional, non-supervisory category, is
given Salary Grades 1 (P4,400) to 10
(P8,605).
In addition to the actual basic salary rate, the
personnel Economic and Relief Allowance
and additional compensation, civil service
personnel also receive an annual Christmas
bonus equivalent to one month’s pay, cash
gift and honoraria. Heads of office receive a
monthly representation and transportation
allowance.
Other than these, incentive awards are
provided by civil service rules, as follows:
1. Performance Incentive
2. Length of Service Incentive
3. Productivity Incentive
4. Loyalty Award
5. Retirement Award
REPRESENTATIVENESS
 The concept of equal opportunity
representativeness dominates in the
philippines.
 Studies show that mirror-image
representativeness’ does not operate in
the country.
 Dominance of females in second level
positions in the national government is
attributed to the high number of female
teachers in the Department of Education,
Culture and Sports, and nurses, midwives,
and other health workers in the
Department of Health.
 The principle of equal opportunity
representativeness has resulted in
considerable regional lopsidedness.
 The Philippines has since 1986 become a
multi-party system with the party of the
president being more powerful than the
other parties because of its access to
resources and to the decision-making
process. Thus, although an equal
opportunity representativeness is
supposed to be in place, the party in
power is more privileged in recruiting for
the bureaucracy, especially at the level of
the cabinet and sub-cabinet members, in
addition to many positions in any new
administration which are policy-
determining, primarily confidential and
highly technical’ (Constitution of the
Philippines, 1987, Article IX, Section 2)
 Those who are rewarded with such
positions are not only loyal party
members but usually persons from the
province from where the president comes.
 The societal structure, with a minority
controlling the economic and political
resources of the country, appears to be in
an unstable position, with a big majority
requiring government-provided services
such as health and education. This
situation would affect the impartiality of
the process since scarcity can only
encourage favouritism.
POLITICIZATION
 Weberian sense (Civil Servants are
required to be politically neutral).
 American Model Reform upheld the
concept of political neutrality.
 Aside from the ideal of merit and fitness,
it constituted a bedrock value for the
Philippine civil service that found
expression in all the pieces of legislation
governing the service.
 Faithful implementation of the policies of
the incumbent regime and
responsiveness and loyalty to that
particular regime, exhibiting chameleon-
like colouration through regime changes.
 The civil service in the Philippines has
developed a tradition of subservience
instead of independence.
 “Dominated bureaucracy” – (Carino
1989a)
 To what degree do civil servants affect
policy making and implementation? In
practice there is considerable
participation of civil servants in policy
making, traditionally the function of the
legislature.
 Even if implementation is a function of
the executive branch, the other side of
the practice is for the legislature to
meddle in the implementation of policies.
The mechanism for this at present is the
oversight committees of Congress. Be
that as it may, civil servants have the
most influence on implementation, for
among other factors it is their disposition
toward the policy that spells success or
failure of implementation.
 Still another matter regarding the
interdependence of the political and
administrative systems is the likelihood of
persons from both sides of the fence
crossing to the other side, careerwise.
 But the strongest explanations for the
politicization of the civil service in the
Philippines can be found in the
constitutional structure which provides for
both separation of powers and checks
and balances. The civil service reports to
the executive but also has strong linkages
with the legislature because of the
latter’s appropriation function.
 There was always enough room for the
loyalists and province friends of the
president. These would include political
appointees at the cabinet and sub-cabinet
levels, those at lower levels occupying
positions of confidence, and thousands of
casual workers.
 Thus, Because of its legal foundations,
political history and traditional practices,
the Philippine civil service is a highly
politicized one.
 An earlier study (Carino 1989b) showed
disappointment with the Aquino
Government because, while she herself
was perceived as honest, she did not
match her honesty with the will to punish
the corrupt. In addition, the
administration seemed to be more
concerned with corruption in the civil
service than with that in the political
leadership.
 The civil service was prestigious and
considered clean only during the
American regime. Because the Filipinos
had to prove themselves to the colonial
masters they had added motivation to
behave.
 The system also worked better:
 The Civil Service System has to regain
it’s pre-war image and to develop into
the modern institution envisioned by its
reformers.
REFORM AND DIFFUSION
 Improving the administrative system in
the Philippines has been characterized
mainly by structural reforms in response
to changes in the country’s social and
political conditions and to emerging
conditions in the global context.
 Such structural reforms have been carried
out largely through the reorganization of
the central government.
 The most recent reorganization was
initiated by Aquino Administration (1986)
after it’s installation in power.
 President Ramos (1992) “ We have to
reorganized the civil service so that it can
do more – and do better”
 Given the revolutionary conditions at that
time, it was considered urgent to
transform the bureaucracy from an
institution that had served yet chafed
under an authoritarian yoke to a
bureaucracy for a democracy (Carino
1992).
CONTENT OF REFORMS
 Like previous reorganization efforts, the
1986 reorganization saw the restructuring
of the central government machinery.
 Ministries were abolished while
qualifications of civil servants, and a
growing consciousness of its corporate
identity might yet result in the
development of a professional and
responsible civil service.
PUBLIC OPINION
Dominant Perception on the Civil
Service
February 1992 Social Weather Station
findings
Negative:
1. 40% of the respondents perceived
most civil servants as corrupt.
2. 25% considered them arrogant
3. 20% said most of them were alcoholic
4. 19 % said most of them were always
out of their offices
5. 16% considered most civil servants
to inefficient
6. 16% described most of them as
lacking in zest
Positive:
1. 27% considered them efficient
2. 25% said they were courteous
3. 21% said they were responsive
The same survey also showed that:
1. High government officials were
perceived as not suited to their
positions.
2. 62% of the respondents felt that the
performance of civil servants had been
the same, compared with their record
five years earlier.
3. 58% of the respondents felt that there
were too many government officials.
4. They also added the observation that
increasing the salaries of public school
teachers and the police force would
improve their performance.

1993 Social Weather Station findings
1. Graft and corruption were perceived
as rampant in the country.
2. 89% of the respondents considered
corruption as a big obstacle to the
attainment of President Ramo’s
vision of the country as an Asian
economic tiger in the year 2000.
3. Respondents singled out the Bureau of
Customs and the Bureau of Internal
Revenue as the most corrupt agencies
of the national government.
They considered corrupt government
officials as constituting a larger threat
to society than the communist
insurgents (Dayag and Laylo 1994)
1994 Survey Reviewing Government
Performance (Gruta 1995) showed the
Government getting a fairly good rating.
Reasons for the Perceptions
1. The emerging literature on the East Asian
countries’ economic success. The role of a
competent, relatively autonomous and
professional civil service in the economic
progress of these countries has been well
documented and serves as the
prerequisite for reform in any country
aspiring to become an economic dragon.
2. Dominating influence of multilateral
financing institutions such as the World
Bank and the International Monetary Fund
which is influential in the formulation and
implementation of the Government’s
privatization policy.
From without, global historical conditions and
events, and actions and policy preferences of
multilateral institutions provide the defining
conditions for reorganization.
CONFIGURATIONS
This section tries to determine the
degree to which the civil service system of
the Philippines conforms to the suggested
configurations of Heady and Morgan, and
proceeds to explain the degree of conformity
or deviation from two configurations.
THE PHILIPPINES ACCORDING TO
HEADY’S CONFIGURATION
DERIVED CONCEPTUAL CONFIGURATION
 Civil service system of the Philippines
cannot be classified as ruler trustworthy.
 Neither is the civil service system a party
controlled one, except perhaps during the
brief experience of the country under
martial rule.
 Policy receptive seems to describe very
well the present Philippine civil service.
 The civil service system also strongly
partakes of the characteristics of a
collaborative one which possesses a
sense of mission that strives to avoid
alienating the political leadership while
maintaining its support.
PHILIP MORGAN’S CONFIGURATION
There are at least two fields in which the
Philippine civil service system can be placed:
I. The Pragmatic Field
1. The State is valued as an entity, an
institution; combined with a general
scepticism of State power and activist
government.
2. Procedures and rituals reflect the
primacy of participation or process over
outcomes.
3. The hierarchy one associates with
strong extensive leadership is unstable
given the preoccupation with process,
 giving way to pressures for participation
and distribution.
4. The salient organizing principles are
those economic and political liberalism.
5. A career in the civil service is not held in
high esteem by the public or business
elites.
6. Positivist values do extend to the
expectation that the civil service will be
competent, if limited in jurisdiction.
7. Recruitment is, by and large, based on
merit, and compensation and promotion
are subject to frequent review for
consistency and fairness.
8. Public and private spheres of activity
are distinct, but there is a business
cycles as well as with the party in power
at any given time.
II. Positivist
1. A strong integral State.
2. Representative institutions exist, but
outcomes are not sacrificed to process.
3. Public and private spheres are distinct,
but the domain of overlap is much
longer in the positivist field than in the
pragmatic.
4. The scope of State involvement in the
economy is wide.
STABILITY AND CHANGE:
THE CIVIL SERVICE IN THE
PHILIPPINES
Jose N. Endriga
SPANISH REGIME
Philosophy regarding public office of
the Spanish regime
- Derived from the theory that the
colonies were the king’s personal
kingdoms, and therefore he could
dispose of anything in it through any
means that he desired. Accordingly, a
public office was regarded as a grant
or favor (merced) from the king.
Two conventional ways of disposing
public office:
1. Appointment- positions that had
judicial functions
2. Purchase- Viceroy, governor-general,
members of the Audencia and
provincial executives were supposed
to be filled by appointment but many
of them were acquired through
purchase in practice.
Criticisms against the system of sale:
1. Incompetence of the Officeholders-
although one of the requirements for a
bidder was to be qualified for the
position, in practice an office was
generally awarded to the highest
bidder.
2. Rapacity of the Officeholders- As a
general practice, buyers borrowed the
money they used, and they therefore,
regarded it as an investment, to be
recovered quickly, and if possible, at a
profit.
Temptation to yield corruption was present
no matter how an office was acquired.
Further aggravation of the weaknesses of the
bureaucracy:
1. Being a colonial bureaucracy, the
Spanish regime in the Philippines was
a subordinate government (Corpuz
1957:34)
2. Distance of the colony and slow means
of transportation, made constant
supervision and control a practical
impossibility. Hence, colonial officials
were given ample grants of power and
discretion.
Distance also raised the possibility of
separation or secession by the colony.
Counteracts:
- Giving colonial positions only upon
persons of approved ancestry, religion
and connections
- Spanish reliance upon the church as a
check upon the secular regime
- Constant transfers of important
officials after brief terms of office
- Bureaucrats should write reports to
the king about the private lives and
official conduct of their colleagues.
3. Highly centralized organization- it was
first of all, on a formal institution
level, personalized in the powerful
position of the Governor-General.
- Through physical sense- concentration
of the Spanish population in Manila.
However it did not by any means
signify cohesion or cooperation.
4. Negativism of the regime was the
colonial situation itself- natives were
to be the passive recipients of the
colonizers’ explicitly noble intentions.
Thus, in accordance with the theory that
the subject people were morally and
politically inferior, officeholding for
Filipinos was confined to the lowest levels
of government: the town and the village.
Such policy made it easier for the
Spaniards to impose exactions since the
agents acting for the regime were not
only Filipinos themselves but was
leaders of pre-Spanish society whom the
masses were accustomed to obeying.
5. Given the already negligible role that
Filipinos performed in the colonial
government, this participation was
further diminished and rendered
practically meaningless in the face of
the vast powers of the parish
priest.
Lowest level of Filipino Participation
in the colonial bureaucracy:
1. Cabeza de barangay- look after the
peace and order of his barangay, to
see to the enforcement of the polo y
servicious and to collect the tributes of
the inhabitants of his jurisdiction.
Compensation: one-half percent of his
tribute collection, exempted from the
tribute and the poly y servicious.
2. Gobernadorcillo- head of the pueblo,
or town, was both an executive and a
judicial officer, agent of Royal
Hacienda on the town level and
paternalistic duties in relation to the
townspeople.
Compensation: 2000 pesos a month
salary, one-half percent share of his
tribute collection, title of Don, and a
place of importance during religious
and civil ceremonies.
Two devices utilized to emphasize the
subordinate position of the colonies and to
constitute checks on the behavior of colonial
bureaucrats:
1. Visitador-general- had the authority
to conduct a visita or investigation of
the highest officials in the colonies.
2. Residencia- required bureaucrats to
render, at the end of their terms, an
account of their conduct while in
office.
AMERICAN REGIME
 The American occupation of the
Philippines is regarded as a significant
phase in the evolution of modern colonial
policy and administration.
 American expansion was undertaken in
the absence of a constant purpose which
may be said to constitute the colonial
objective.
 The policies that the American adopted
tended to be empirical, realistic, and
flexible.
 By the time the civil service system was
introduced to the Philippines, it was
essentially a “finished product”, where
efficiency, economy and merit were not
the only dominant values, but where the
controversies surrounding the passage of
the Pendleton Act of 1883 had added the
concept of political neutrality.
 All of these values were incorporated into
the Civil Service Act which was one of the
first pieces of legislation (Act No.5)
passed by the Philippine Commission and
which, approximately enough was entitled
“An act for the Establishment and
Maintenance of an Efficient and Honest
Civil Service in the Philippines”
Civil service is good in two aspects:
a. It was free from the spoil system
that continued to afflict the
American system.
b. It had a much broader coverage,
being applied to all positions in the
civil administration, insular and
provincial, as well as the municipal
government of Manila.
Characteristics of Civil Service System:
- It is broad in coverage and
centralized organizations
- The Civil Service Road, which had
administrative control of the
system, was an independent office
under the immediate supervision
and control of the Governor
General.CHA
- It exercised supervision and control
over examinations. Competitive
examinations were required for
original entrance into the civil
service, as well as for promotions.
 Civil Service Act prohibited any inquiry
into the political or religious views and
affiliations of examinees and employees,
whether for appointment or promotion.
 Persons appointed contrary to the Civil
Service Act were not entitled to receive
salary, and the appointing officers
involved were personally responsible for
compensating them.
 On the whole, civil servants enjoyed
security tenure, attractive hours of work,
generous leave privileges and a there is a marked deterioration due to
prestigious career.
Undesirable feature of the system:
As a matter of policy as well as of
practice, Americans were paid higher salaries
than Filipinos occupying the same position. In
defending the practice, the Civil Service
Board in 1901 noted that it cost very much
for Americans then for Filipinos to live in the
Philippines “even where members of both
races require practically the same
necessities in life.”
 More Americans were occupying the
higher positions in the civil service, while
the lower ones were filled almost
exclusively by Filipinos. The situation
graphically illustrates the Republican
policy of “a government of Americans ,
assisted by Filipinos” (to teach technique
and the substance of expertise to
subordinate Filipino bureaucrats”
 The most important reason for the
Filipinization of the civil service was to
the policy of Filipinization itself pursued
by the Republican administration.
 Filipino participation in the civil service
was going to increase even further after
1913 when political conditions would
usher the Democrats into power, who
would thereafter pursue a policy that
would hasten even further the tendencies
towards Filipinization.
 Governor General Francis BurtenHurrison
implemented the Democratic policy of
rapid Filipinization by resorting following
specific measure:
- Forced resignations
- Reduction in pay of the higher
positions
- The abolition of certain positions
- The creation of conditions that
were intolerable to many senior
Americans into service
 Filipinization had resulted in what has
been referred to as “a bureaucracy of
Filipinos, assisted by Americans” (but
injection of politics) Leonard Wood
 In 1961, the civil service law was
embodied in the new administrative code.
 The bureau of Civil service continued
under the control of an American director
until 1920 when a Filipino or more than
10 years of service in the government, Mr.
Jose Gil, was appointed head of the office.
 The situation up to 1935 was still a
colonial one because of Filipinos still
ultimately accountable to the colonial
rulers.
 Act No. 117 also enforced in 1936, wan an
ephocal piece of legislation. It extended
the civil service to all branches and
subdivisions of the government and
applied the principle of competitive
examination to all positions.
 Two other important initiatives
undertaken during the Commonwealth
period which have proven their worth:
1. Government Service Insurance
System (GSIS) – there was no
retirement law worthy of the name.
2. It was the setting up of a and the disorders that it caused had
Government Survey board to assess
the government’s administrative and
organizational resources.
THE INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC
 On July 4, 1946, in accordance with the
provisions of the Tydings-Mcduffle Law,
the Philippines was granted
independence by the United States.
 The tasks were made even heavier and
more difficult to by the problems brought
about by the Second World War: the
economic prostration and severe physical
destruction of the country, as well as the
political amorality manifested in the
vastly increased incidence of graft and
corruption.
 The emergence of two-party system
immediately after independence was
itself a significant development that was
to affect the civil service. The
bureaucracy became vulnerable to
partisans.
 In the late 1940s, the security of tenure of
civil servants was respected by politicians
but there were vacancies in the newly-
created Department of Foreign Affairs and
temporary positions in the Department of
Public Works and Communications, which
became the outlet of the spoil system.
 Concerned over the general state of the
country, the Philippine government in
1950 requested the United States
government to send a mission to send
survey Philippines conditions and to
recommend measures that will enable
Philippines to become and to remain self-
supporting. (Bell mission- the survey
group rendered a dismal report on the
condition of the country.
 The mission’s recommendation focused
on solutions to the economic and financial
problems of the country.
 Although the government inherited a
“reasonably well-organized administration
and a well-trained civil service”, the war
made it difficult to restore administrative
efficiency.
 It also made the observation that the civil
service system, “although designed to be
based on merit, does not function in this
way” (It made a general recommendation
that a special effort must now be made to
improve the public administration in order
to give the people confidence in the
government)
 Bell mission established the first school of
public administration in the country on
1952, the University of the Philippines
under joint contract between the State
University and the University of Michigan,
the Institute of Public Administration
carried on a fourfold program which
included an academic curriculum, in-
service training, research, and
consultation services,
 Government Survey and Reorganization
Committee (GSRC) in 1954 mandates:
1. To promote the better execution of
the laws, and the more effective
management of the government
 and the expeditious administration
of public business.
2. To increase the efficiency of the
operations of the government to
the fullest extent possible.
 Civil Service has been unable to function
with the effectiveness and efficiency:
- There is a delay in the recruitment,
examination and placement of
employees
- There is loose and inadequate
discipline of civil service employees
- There is no program for positive
personnel management
 There are thousands of temporary
employees in the competitive service,
and the government has failed to provide
the necessary means to ensure a
progressive merit system offering career
opportunities sufficiently attractive to
persons of higher caliber.
 The Civil Service Act of 1959 (RA No.
2260) sought to remedy the defects of
civil service system by:
1. Amending, repealing or improving
existing provisions in the Civil
Service Law and in other legislation
which tended to defeat the merit
system
2. Making new provisions for carrying
out more effectively and
economically that needs and
requirements of the public service
(CSC 1959)
 More specific provisions of the act:
1. Change the Bureau of Civil Service
into a Civil Service Commission
2. Created a full-time Civil Service
Board to act as appellate body in
administrative cases decided by
the Civil Service Commissioner
3. Provided for the creation of
personnel offices and personnel
officer positions in various
branches of the government
4. Authorized agencies to have
appropriate training staff and to
establish their own in-service
training programs in accordance
with standards laid down by the
Commission
5. Provided an improved performance
rating system as well as an
improved promotion system
6. Considered immorality and
improper solicitation of
contributions from subordinates
and schoolchildren as grounds for
disciplinary actions.
 Violation of civil service rules
At the time of World War II, it
can be described as permeating all
levels of society:
Lower level – we had petty fixers who
hung around government offices
offering to “fix” an application of
another for a free, or employees who
collected reimbursements for spurious
per diem claims, or policemen who
practiced extortion on helpless
citizens.
Middle Level – officials who profited
from fake vouchers, padded payrolls,
salary kickbacks, overstocking of
government supplies, or protection of
illegal Chinese immigrants.
High Level – candidates for positions
who filed dishonest declarations of
election campaign expenses, political
bigshots who peddled influence, party
leaders who misused public funds for
partisan purposes.
Elite Group – grafters and corrupt
officials whose profits from corrupt
transactions with the government ran
into millions of pesos, but whose
powerful connections rendered them
virtually untouchable law.
 Administration can be ineffective and the
poor record has been diagnosed as due to
following factors:
a. organizational instability
b. frequent changes in leadership
c. political pressures in employee
recruitment
d. public apathy
 e. strained relationships among the
judiciary, the legislative branches,
and other government agencies.
THE MARTIAL LAW REGIME
 The problems of Republic were continued
to be unsolved, until the declaration of
Martial Law in 1972 promised the most
extensive and wrenching effort at reform
ever attempted in the history of the
Philippine republic.
 With the character of the authoritarian
regime, it was possible to undertake a
quick succession of measures designed,
“to save the Republic and to transform
Philippine Society.”
 President Marcos declared the whole
country a land reform area, disbanded
private armies, rounded up members of
crime syndicates, increased tax
collections and cleaned up the streets.
 The Integrated Reorganization Plan (IRP),
which was the result of a two-year effort
of the Reorganization Commission had
remained unacted upon since 1969
because of Congressional opposition to
many of its provisions.
 IRP itself proposed structural changes
and innovations to strengthen the
merit system:
- the conversation of the single-
headed Civil Commission to a three-
man Commission
- the decentralization of personnel
functions to line departments,
bureaus and regional offices
- the provision of more effective
policies on personnel selection,
promotion, discipline and training
- the formation of a Career Executive
System
 The three year “Civil Service
Development Plan” issued in 1975 by the
IRP called an “integrated approach in the
government,” it stresses the supportive
role of the personnel system in program
administration.
 five priority areas of Civil Service
Development Plan:
- career and personnel development
- performance evaluation
- administrative discipline
- recruitment and examination
- review of policies
 In the area of evaluation, the CSC
initiated the organization of Performance
Evaluation Committees which in 1976
undertook an extensive assessment of
the entire civil service.
 The evaluation has elicited reservations
regarding the validity of the findings as a
basis for action. (but it was the first
attempt to evaluate the whole civil
service, and perhaps the value of the
efforts lies only there, and as an object
lesson in conducting future performance
evaluation.
 During the period of martial law was the
famous purge of 1973 when about 1500
civil servants were summarily dismissed.
On the third anniversary of martial law,
another large group of government
personnel were again “purged”, and the
list included cabinet members.
 Despite all the efforts at improvement
and reform throughout the decades of the
1950s and the 1960s, it continued to
exhibit serious problems and weaknesses.
(Corruption remained a major problem)
 In the Board of Transportation, corruption
took the following forms:
- facilitation or delay in the
processing of or taking of action on
the papers
- circumventing specified steps or
process
- approving the paper or equipment
assessed even if it fails to conform
to the standard
- engaging in business with the
client while in the performance of
his duties by the bureaucrat.
 Distinctive response to the problem of
graft and corruption in the martial law
regime has the activation of the
constitutional provision regarding the
 creation of the position of
Tanodbayan (Ombudsman) and a
special court, the Sandiganbayan.
 However, the only lower-ranking civil
servants have been found guilty and
meted out severe penalties. A big-time
graftersstill has to be convicted to
convince a doubting public that the
government is really serious about
solving the problem of graft and
corruption.
 Our capacity to obey the laws and to
punish the offenders does not seem to
have undergone any palpable
improvement over more than three
decades of the independent republic.
 For now, we claim that we have been
exerting much effort to put the house
in order, and that our standards of
public behavior are high and clear and
that we shall continue to try to uphold
them.

Prepared by:

RAENA RIANNE F. ALLA

Bachelor of Public Administration
2-3

TRICSY MARIE S. ESGUERRA

Bachelor of Public Administration
2-3

NESTOR CJ P. NALON
Bachelor of Public Administration
2-3