Bona fide text
Civil Service for sale?
As citizens of this country we expect a lot from our government. We depend most of the time on how the government run this third world country. We criticize politicians according to what they have done for the betterment of the society, moreover, we open our eyes at the same time on how they act on issues and how they throw accusations to their fellow politicians. In simple words, the political life here in the Philippines is full of bickery and mockery.
Why not focus themselves in CIVIL SERVICE? I asked Teacher May Erlyn H. Danos, a co-teacher of at St. Joseph School (Iloilo), Inc., to share her points of view on this matter.
With the present moral, or shall we say amoral, parameters in public governance, it will not be foolhardy to think that any government proposal for infrastructure where large sums are involved must be viewed with suspicion. Most citizens now think guilty, until or unless proven otherwise. Be these public bidding or government negotiations, be these done by official foreign government assistance or private sector suppliers, it will not be unfair and under present public knowledge and contemporary experience to think there is rent-seeking involved. And rent-seeking will not go away with the present dispensation or any replacement to it. It is unfortunately an ingrained universal attitude that covers not only those in government but those outside, including especially those in the opposition with plans and expectations to become government officials themselves.
What is to be done practically and quickly is presently unknown at least to me. But in the long run, there is the critical necessity of establishing and protecting a genuine, merit-based civil service system that will stay in place through changes of administration. Knowing that they have been appointed in the first place by an independent, competent and unassailable voting process that withstands the interference of political personalities.
Civil service positions should be untouchable to politicians, including the high officials of the land. The Constitution has provided for this by making the Civil Service Commission a constitutionally independent body. While this is in theory and by constitutional fiat, it has not been practiced in everyday governance, particularly lately. Civil Service Commission appointments have also been made to feel political repercussions. Going through the Commission on Appointments alone is a gauntlet of political and unprofessional demands that are a portent of things to come for the civil service official. These ordeals come every year with the budget hearings. Legislators demand concessional appointments of unqualified political supporters to Civil Service positions that should only be for the professionally and morally qualified, under pain of budgetary cuts. The executive department in its own way has done even more such damage being the ultimate appointing power of political supporters with no other qualifications for service. Thus, both the executive and the legislative are equally guilty of subverting the civil service and, in a way, the Constitution.
If a strong and independent Civil Service is in place, invulnerable to political storms and changes which would allow them to remain constant with each administration that comes, an expert, independent and protected corps of government employees could be in every department professionally performing governance. Left to them all government proposals and projects could be passed through rigid standards and uncompromising tests away from nefarious influences and graft-prone impositions of those who today effect the corruption that has overwhelmed us.
It should also be mentioned that a civil service system that is as it should be will attract professionally competent patriotic citizens who wish to serve their country and will be allowed to do so. As permanent government staff, there will be no learning curve to overcome with each new administration. A system with this character will be ale to fearlessly stand up and be heard when necessary against corrupt proposals and those who promote them. Public opinion will be on their side once the public has the respect for the institution of the civil service. This will redound to better governance, more transparent service and a less suspicious citizenry.
If we are expecting too much from our government officials to render true service in one way or another, they are also expecting something from us – to unite for a common good and to live a contented life in a third world country like, the Philippines. Now, civil service for sale?