Definition of Public Officers [ACE]

Any person holding any public office in the government by appointment, contract, or election.

Private Individual As Public Officer

A private individual may be held liable for graft and corruption when in conspiracy with a public
officer.

Public Officers Enumerated [EPCC]

1. Elective and appointive officials and employees

2. Permanent or temporary
3. Career or non-career service including the military and police.
4. Whether or not they receive compensation.

Career Service Positions, Characteristics

It is characterized by entrance based on merit and fitness determined in examinations or highly

technical qualifications and security of tenure.

Career Service Positions, Enumerated [OCPCCGL]

1. Open career positions where examinations is required;

2. Close career positions that are scientific and highly technical in nature;
3. Positions in the Career Executive Service;
4. Career officers other than those in the Career Executive Service but appointed by the
President.
5. Commissioned officers and enlisted men in the AFP.
6. Personnel of GOCCs.
7. Permanent laborers.

Career Service Positions Subclassified

Career service positions are subclassified into permanent and temporary appointments.

Permanent Appointment

It is issued to a person who meets all the requirements of the position he is being appointed to
and is eligible.

Temporary Appointment.
 It is issued to a person in the absence of eligible individual and necessary in the public
interest to fill up vacancy which does not exceed 1 year and may be replaced as soon as
qualified CS eligible becomes available.

Noncareer Service Positions, Characteristics

Positions that do not fall under career service whose tenure is limited to a period specified by
law or limited to a duration of a particular project.

Noncareer Service Positions, Enumerated

1. Elective officials and their personal and confidential staff;

2. Secretaries and other officials of Cabinet rank who hold positions at the pleasure of
President and their personal and confidential staff;
3. Chair and members of commissions and boards with fixed term office and their personal
and confidential staff;
4. Contractual personnel;

Constitutional mandate that appointments in the civil service are made only according to merit
and fitness determined by examination applies only to career service positions.

Policy-determining position

It is one charged with the duty of formulating a method of action for the government or any of
its subdivisions.

Primarily Confidential position

Noncareer service positions that do not have security of tenure.

The tenure of a confidential employee is coterminous with the pleasure of the appointing
authority.

Confidential employees may be appointed although beyond 65 years of age.

To be classified as confidential, the position must not be routinary.

The Corporate Secretary of a GOCC occupies a primarily confidential position since she reports
directly to the board of directors without intervening officers and the board expects the highest
degree of honesty, integrity and loyalty form the secretary.

The court determines whether a particular position is primarily confidential in nature and prior
classifications of other bodies are merely initial and not conclusive.
It is the nature of the duties which makes a position primarily confidential.

Close proximity rule.

De Facto officer

It is an officer who is an officer in fact but not in law. It exercises its functions under the color of
appointment or election even though it is irregular.

All acts of a de facto officer are all valid.

De Facto elements [DCA]

1. There must be de jure office.

2. There must be color of right by the public.
3. There must be actual or physical possession of office in good faith.

It is an officer