QuestionsQuestions (CSC MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 41)
To set policies governing the transfer or appointment of an officer or employee to an agency over which he or she exercises oversight functions, specifically to prevent conflicts of interest.
The heads of a unit/field office/provincial office and their staff are prohibited from transferring or being appointed to any position in the department/agency/office/local government unit that their unit is assigned or designated to oversee within one (1) year after termination of the assignment/designation.
The prohibition lasts for one (1) year and starts after the termination of the officer’s or staff’s assignment/designation over the oversight agency/unit.
It means the one-year ban begins once the oversight assignment/designation ends, and during that one-year period the officer and staff cannot be transferred or appointed to a position in the same agency/unit they previously oversaw.
It applies to both transferring and being appointed (i.e., appointment to any position in the agency/unit being overseen).
Any position in the covered department/agency/office or local government unit that the officer’s unit is assigned or designated to oversee.
The authority cannot act on such request within the same period unless it is clearly shown that the transfer is in the exigency and in the best interest of the service.
It “shall not be acted upon by the authority concerned within the same period,” unless the narrow exceptions (exigency and best interest of the service) are clearly shown.
It implies the evidence and justification must be substantial and explicit enough to clearly demonstrate that the transfer is both for exigency and in the best interest of the service.
It is the en banc resolution of the CSC dated August 22, 1990, which the Commission adopted and used as the basis for promulgating the circular’s policies.
By imposing a one-year cooling-off period after oversight assignments and by restricting actions that could enable officers to benefit from their oversight roles.
No. The authority shall not act on such request within the same period unless the exigency and best interest of the service are clearly shown.
After the one-year prohibition period has elapsed from the termination of the oversight assignment/designation.
Relevant facts could include service necessity, operational or staffing shortages, urgency of institutional requirements, and that the transfer serves governmental functions without undermining the conflict-of-interest policy behind the ban.
It prevents circumvention: even if the officer resigns to bypass the prohibition, the authority still must not act on the request within the one-year period unless the strict exceptions are met.