AUGUST 22, 2017
examination. [Sec. 2(2), Art. IX-B]
Alaba, Michelle M.
CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
The discretion of the appointing authority is not only in the choice
of the person who is to be appointed, but also in the nature or
character of the appointment issued , i.e., whether the
appointment is permanent or temporary.
Appointments in the Civil Service
 The civil service embraces all branches,
subdivisions, instrumentalities, and agencies of the
Government, including government-owned or
controlled corporations with original charters. [Sec.
2(b), Art. IX-B]
Historical Highlights
 The civil service system in the Philippines was formally
established under Public Law No. 5 ("An Act for the
Establishment and Maintenance of Our Efficient and
Honest Civil Service in the Philippine Island") in 1900
by the Second Philippine Commission.
 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.
It was reorganized into a Bureau in 1905.
 The 1935 Philippine Constitution firmly established the
merit system as the basis for employment in
government. 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.
 In 1959, Republic Act 2260, otherwise known as the
Civil Service Law, was enacted. This was the first
integral law on the Philippine bureaucracy,
superseding the scattered administrative orders
relative to government personnel administration issued
since 1900.
 RA 2260 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
government.
 The CSC’s present mandate is derived from Article IX-
B of the 1987 Constitution which was given effect
through Book V of Executive Order No. 292 (The
1987 Administrative Code).
 The Code essentially reiterates existing principles and
policies in the administration of the 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.
Purpose: The Civil Service system rests on the merit system
(instead of the spoils system)
Classification under the Constitution
1. Competitive
2. Non-Competitive
Appointments in the civil service shall be made only according
to merit and fitness to be determined, as far as practicable,
and, [except to positions which are policy-determining,
primarily confidential, or highly technical,] by competitive
1. A position is policy-determining where its occupant is
vested with the power of formulating policies for the
government or any of its agencies, subdivisions, or
instrumentalities (e.g. a Cabinet member)
2. A position is primarily confidential where its occupant
enjoys more than the ordinary confidence in his
aptitude of the appointing power but bears primarily
such close intimacy which insures freedom of
intercourse without embarrassment or freedom
from misgiving of betrayal of personal trust on
confidential matters of the State (e.g. private
secretary or a confidential agent). For someone holding
a primarily confidential position, more than ordinary
confidence is required.
 denotes not only confidence in the aptitude of the
appointee for the duties of the office but primarily
close intimacy which insures freedom of
[discussion, delegation and reporting] without
embarrassment or freedom from misgivings of
betrayals of personal trust or confidential matters
of state
PROXIMITY RULE
 A position is considered to be primarily confidential
when there is a primarily close intimacy between the
appointing authority and the appointee, which
ensures the highest degree of trust and unfettered
communication and discussion on the most
confidential of matters.
 Moreover, in classifying a position as primarily
confidential, its functions must not be routinary,
ordinary and day to day in character
3. A position is highly technical where the occupant is
required to possess skills or training in the supreme or
superior degree (e.g. scientist).
Jurisprudence establishes that the Court is not bound by the
classification of positions in the civil service made by the
legislative or executive branches, or even by a constitutional
body like the petitioner.
The Court is expected to make its own determination as to the
nature of a particular position, such as whether it is a primarily
confidential position or not, without being bound by prior
classifications made by other bodies.
The findings of the other branches of government are merely
considered initial and not conclusive to the Court.
Among those positions judicially determined as primarily
confidential positions are the following:
1. Chief Legal Counsel of the PNB;
2. Confidential Agent of the Office of the Auditor, GSIS;
3. Secretary of the Sangguniang Bayan;
4. Secretary to the City Mayor
5. Senior Security and Security Guard in the Office of the
Vice Mayor;
6. Secretary to the Board of a government corporation;
7. City Legal Counsel, City Legal Officer or City Attorney;
8. Provincial Attorney;
9. Private Secretary;
10. Board Secretary II of the Philippine State College of
Aeronautics.
CLASSIFICATIONS OF POSITION IN THE CIVIL SERVICE
1. Career Service
2. Non-Career Service
SECTION 7. Career Service.—The Career Service shall be
characterized by:
1. entrance based on merit and fitness to be determined
as far as practicable by competitive examination, or
based on highly technical qualifications;
2. opportunity for advancement to higher career
positions; and
3. security of tenure.
The Career Service shall include:
1. Open Career positions for appointment to which prior
qualification in an appropriate examination is required;
2. Closed Career positions which are scientific, or highly
technical in nature; these include the faculty and
academic staff of state colleges and universities, and
scientific and technical positions in scientific or
research institutions which shall establish and maintain
their own merit systems;
3. Positions in the Career Executive Service; namely,
Undersecretary, Assistant Secretary, Bureau Director,
Assistant Bureau Director, Regional Director, Assistant
Regional Director, Chief of Department Service and
other officers of equivalent rank as may be identified
by the Career Executive Service Board, all of whom
are appointed by the President;
4. Career officers, other than those in the Career
Executive Service, who are appointed by the
President, such as the Foreign Service Officers in the
Department of Foreign Affairs;
5. Commissioned officers and enlisted men of the
Armed Forces which shall maintain a separate merit
system;
6. Personnel of government-owned or controlled
corporations (GOCCs), whether performing
governmental or proprietary functions, who do not fall
under the non-career service; and
7. Permanent laborers, whether skilled, semi-skilled, or
unskilled.
The Administrative Code, under its Book V, sub-classifies career
positions according to "appointment status," divided into:
1. permanent - which is issued to a person who meets
all the requirements for the positions to which he is
being appointed, including the appropriate eligibility
prescribed, in accordance with the provisions of law,
rules and standards promulgated in pursuance thereof;
and
2. temporary - which is issued, in the absence of
appropriate eligibles and when it becomes
necessary in the public interest to fill a vacancy, to a
person who meets all the requirements for the position
to which he is being appointed except the appropriate
civil service eligibility; provided, that such temporary
appointment shall not exceed twelve months, and the
appointee may be replaced sooner if a qualified civil
service eligible becomes available.
CLASSES OF POSITIONS IN THE CAREER SERVICE
a. The first level shall include clerical, trades, crafts,
and custodial service positions which involve non-
professional or sub-professional work in a non-
supervisory or supervisory capacity requiring less than
four years of collegiate studies;
b. The second level shall include professional,
technical, and scientific positions which involve
professional, technical, or scientific work in a non-
supervisory or supervisory capacity requiring at least
four years of college work up to Division Chief level;
and
c. The third level shall cover positions in the Career
Executive Service (CES).
Take Note:
 Entrance to the first two levels shall be through
competitive examinations, which shall be open to
those inside and outside the service who meet the
minimum qualification requirements.
 Entrance to a higher level does not require previous
qualification in the lower level.
 Entrance to the third level shall be prescribed by the
Career Executive Service Board (CESB).
Non-career service
The Non-Career Service shall be characterized by:
(1) entrance on bases other than those of the usual tests of merit and
fitness utilized for the career service; and
(2) tenure which is 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 project for
which purpose employment was made.
The Non-Career Service shall include:
1. Elective officials and their personal or confidential staff;
2. Department Heads and other officials of Cabinet rank who hold
positions at the pleasure of the President and their personal or
confidential staff(s);
3. Chairman and members of commissions and boards with fixed
terms of office and their personal or confidential staff;
4. Contractual personnel or those whose employment in the
government is in accordance with a special contract to undertake a
specific work or job, requiring special or technical skills not available
in the employing agency, to be accomplished within a specific period,
which in no case shall exceed one year, and performs or accomplishes
the specific work or job, under his own responsibility with a minimum
of direction and supervision from the hiring agency; and
5. Emergency and seasonal personnel.
Two elements for a position to be considered a CES:
1.) The position is among those enumerated under Book V,
Title 1, Subtitle A, Chapter 2, Section 7 (3) of the
Administrative Code of 1987 OR a position of equal rank as
those enumerated and identified by the CESB to be such
position of equal rank; AND
2.) The holder of the position is a presidential appointee.
With particular reference to positions in the career executive service,
the requisite civil service eligibility is acquired upon passing the CES
examinations administered by the CES Board and the subsequent
conferment of such eligibility upon passing the examinations.
 Once a person acquires eligibility, he either earns the status
of a permanent appointee to the CES position to which he
has previously been appointed, or he becomes qualified for
a permanent appointment to that position provided only
that he also possesses all the other qualifications for the
position.
 Verily, it is clear that the possession of the required CES
eligibility is that which will make an appointment in the
career executive service a permanent one. Petitioner does
not possess such eligibility, however, it cannot be said that
his appointment to the position was permanent.
RIGHTS AND PRIVILEGES OF PUBLIC OFFICERS:
The rights and duties of public officers are prescribed by the
Constitution or by the statute, or both.
Right to compensation
1.) The power to fix compensation is not exclusively legislative
in character.
2.) Power may be delegated subject to statutory limitations.
(e.g. Sec. 81, R.A. 7160 on compensation of local officials)
Compensation is not indispensable to a public office. It is merely an
incident thereto.
Section 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. (sec.
5, IX-B, 1987 Constitution)
Forms of compensation
Salary is the personal compensation to be paid to the public officer
for his services, and it is generally a fixed annual or periodical payment
depending on the time and not on the amount of the services he may
render.
It is distinguished from wages, in that salary is given to officers of
higher degree of employment than those to whom wages are given;
salary is regarded as compensation per annum, while wages are paid
day by day or week by week.
A per diem is a daily allowance given for each day an officer or
employee of government is away from his home base. (traditional
meaning)
The term emoluments means the profit arising from the office, that
which is received as compensation for services or which is annexed to
office as salary, fees, etc. Allowances such as representation and
transportation are included in the term.
Salary cannot be garnished
The salary of a public officer cannot, by garnishment, attachment, or
order of execution be seized before being paid to him, and
appropriated to the payment of his debts.
Reasons:
1.) While the money is still in the hands of the disbursing
officer, it belongs to the government;
2.) Public policy forbids such practice since it would be fatal to
public service; and
3.) The garnishment or attachment of an officer’s salary is
tantamount to a suit against the State in its own court,
which is prohibited except with its consent.
Public policy also prohibits the assignment of unearned salaries or
fees. Agreements affecting compensation are void as contrary to
public policy.
Constitutional provisions affecting salaries:
1.) The salaries of Senators and Members of the House of
Representatives shall be determined by law. No increase in
said compensation shall take effect until after the
expiration of the full term of all the Members of the Senate
and the House of Representatives approving such increase.
(SECTION 10, Art. VI)
2.) The salaries of the President and Vice-President shall be
determined by law and shall not be decreased during their
tenure. No increase in said compensation shall take effect
until after the expiration of the term of the incumbent
during which such increase was approved. They shall not
receive during their tenure any other emolument from the
Government or any other source. (Sec 6, Art. VII).
3.) The salary of the Chief Justice and of the Associate Justices
of the Supreme Court, and of judges of lower courts shall be
fixed by law. During their continuance in office, their salary
shall not be decreased. (Sec 10, Art. VIII).
4.) No elective or appointive public officer or employee shall
receive additional, double, or indirect compensation, unless
specifically authorized by law. (Sec. 8, Art. IX-B).
5.) Career civil service employees separated from the service
not for cause but as a result of the reorganization shall be
entitled to appropriate separation pay and to retirement
and other benefits accruing to them under the laws of
general application in force at the time of their separation.
(sec. 16, Art. XVIII).
Prohibition against Diminution of Salary
Except as otherwise provided by the Constitution, Congress has
absolute power to fix or alter the compensation of public officers.
(R.A. 6758)
Congress is given the power to fix salaries of certain constitutional
officers, but after it has done so, it may not reduce the salary of any
of them during his term or tenure.

Prohibition against receiving additional, double, or indirect
compensation
SECTION 8. No elective or appointive public officer or employee shall
receive additional, double, or indirect compensation, unless
specifically authorized by law, nor accept without the consent of the
Congress, any present, emolument, office, or title of any kind from
any foreign government.
Pensions or gratuities shall not be considered as additional, double,
or indirect compensation. (sec. 8, ARTICLE IX-B)
When not applicable:
1.) If specifically authorized by law in instances where payment
of such compensation appears not only just but necessary.
(The prohibition is aimed against the giving of extra
compensation by executive or administrative order)
2.) If received not from the government.
It is settled that an illegally terminated civil service employee is
entitled to back salaries limited only to a maximum period of five
years, and not full back salaries from his illegal termination up to his
reinstatement. (Galang v. Landbank, May 31, 2011)
Back wages represent the compensation that should have been
earned but were not collected because of the unjust dismissal.
This includes other monetary benefits attached to the employee’s
salary following the principle that an illegally dismissed government
employee who s later reinstated is entitled to all the rights and
privileges that accrue to him by virtue of the office he held.
An illegally dismissed government employee shall be paid back
salaries at the rate he was receiving when he was terminated
unqualified by salary increase and without deduction from earnings
received elsewhere during the period of his illegal dismissal.
When an official or employee was illegally dismissed and his
reinstatement has later been ordered, for all legal purposes he is
considered as not having left his office. Therefore, he is entitled to al
the rights and privileges that accrue to him by virtue of the office he
held.
Right to additional allowances and benefits
 Under the Local Government Code( RA 7160), LGUs may provide
for additional allowances and other benefits to national
government officials stationed or assigned to their municipality
or city
Right to self-organization
 The right to self-organization shall not be denied to government
employees. [Sec. 2(5), Art. 9-B]
 Does not carry with it the right to engage in any form of prohibited
concerted mass action resulting in work stoppage or disruption of
public service
 The settled rule is this jurisdiction is that employees in the public
service may not engage in strikes, mass leaves, walkouts, and
other forms of mass action that will lead in temporary stoppage or
disruption of public service.
 The right of government employees to organize is limited to the
formation of unions or associations only, without including the right
to strike, adding that public employees going on disruptive
unauthorized absences to join concerted mass actions may be held
liable for conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service
(GSIS vs. Kapisanan ,Dec. 6, 2006; GSIS vs Villaviza, July 10,
2010)
Freedom of Expression
 Govt. workers, whatever their ranks, have as much right as any
person in the land to voice out their protests against what they
believe to be a violation of their rights and interest. Civil service
does not deprive them of their freedom of expression.
 It would be unfair to hold that by joining the government service,
the members thereof have renounced or waived this basic liberty.
This freedom can be reasonably regulated only but can never be
taken away. (DCWD vs. Aranjuez, June 16, 2015)
 GSIS employees who wore red during a public hearing at their
office while raising their fists and orating against then President
Winston Garcia.
 The SC held that such act was not constitutive of a prohibited
activity but only an exercise of their constitutional right to freedom
of expression.
Right to protection of temporary employees
 Temporary employees of the Government shall be given such
protection as may be provided by law [Sec. 2(6), Art. 9-B]
 No officer or employee of the civil service shall be removed or
suspended except for cause provided by law [Sec 2(3), Art. 9-B]
Rights under EO 292
1. Right to preference in promotion
a. When a vacancy occurs in a position in the first level of
the Career Service as defined in Sec. 8, the employees
in the department who 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.
b. When a vacancy occurs in a position in the second
level of the Career Service as defined in Sec. 8, the
employees in the government service who 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.
c. If the vacancy is not filled by promotion as provided
herein the same shall be filled by transfer of present
employees in the government service, by reinstatement,
by re-employment of persons separated through
reduction in force, or by appointment of persons with the
civil service eligibility appropriate to the positions. [Sec.
21, EO 292]
2. Right to present complaints and grievances
o Employees shall have the right to present their
complaints or grievances to management and have
them adjudicated as expeditiously as possible in the
best interest of the agency, the government as a whole,
and the employee concerned. Such complaint or
grievances shall be resolved at the lowest possible level
in the department or agency, as the case may be, and
the employee shall have the right to appeal such
decision to higher authorities
NEXT-IN-RANK RULE  Any person who has been permanently
appointed to a position in the career service
 and who has, through no delinquency or
1. It is not a mandatory requirement misconduct, been separated therefrom, may
2. It applies only in cases of promotion be reinstated to a position in the same level
3. Employees next in rank are those “who occupy the next lower for which he is qualified
positions in the occupation group under which the vacant position 5. Reemployment
is classified, and in other functionally related occupational groups  Names of persons who have been appointed
and who are competent, qualified and with the appropriate civil permanently to positions in the career
service eligibility. (Book 5, Title 1, Subtitle A, Chapter 5, Sec. 21, services and who have been separated as a
pars. 2 and 3, EO 292) result of reduction in force or reorganization,
shall be entered in a list from which selection
QUALIFIED NEXT-IN-RANK- refers to an employee
for reemployment shall be made
appointed on a permanent basis to a position previously
6. Detail
determined to be next-in-rank and who meets the requirements for
appointment thereto as previously determined by the appointing  The movement of an employee from one
authority and approved by the Commission. (Book V, Title I, agency to another without the issuance of an
Subtitle A, Chapter 5, Sec. 21, EO 292) appointment and shall be allowed, only for a
limited period in the case of employees
 Appointment is a discretionary power of the appointing occupying professional, technical and
authority. So long as the appointee possesses the qualifications scientific positions
required by law, the appointment is valid  If the employee believes that there is no
justification for the detail, he may appeal his
PERSONNEL ACTION/HUMAN RESOURCE ACTION case to the Commission. Pending appeal,
the decision to detail the employee shall be
 Any action denoting the movement or progress of personnel in the
civil service executor unless otherwise ordered by the
Commission.
 It includes:
7. Reassignment
1. Appointment through certification
 An employee may be reassigned from one
 An appointment through certification to a
organizational unit to another in the same
position in the civil service, except as herein
agency: Provided: that such reassignment
otherwise provided, shall be issued to a
shall not involve a reduction in rank, status
person who has been selected from a list
or salary.
of qualified persons certified by the
Commission from an appropriate register of
Rationale:
eligibles, and who meets all the other
requirements of the position.  To maintain the policy of merit and rewards in the civil service
2. Promotion  Since appointments in the civil service are based on merit and
 A movement from one position to another fitness, it is assumed that the appointments of employees next in
with an increase in duties and rank are equally meritorious.
responsibilities as authorized by law and
usually accompanied by an increase in pay.
The movement may be from one department
or agency to another or from one
organizational unit to another in the same
department or agency
3. Transfer
 A movement from 1 position to another
which is of equivalent rank, level, or salary
without break in service involving the
issuance of an appointment.
 The transfer may be from:
 One department/agency to
another; or
 One organizational unit to
another in the same
department/agency

Provided, however, that any movement from

the non-career service to the career service
shall not be considered a transfer

4. Reinstatement