Philippine Civil Service Act of 1959

What positions are included

Section 3 divides civil service positions into three categories: competitive or classified service, non-competitive or unclassified service, and exempt service.
Section 3 states that the exempt service does not fall within the scope of the Act.
Section 4 provides that the competitive or classified service includes positions for which prior qualification in an appropriate examination is required.
Section 5 provides that the non-competitive or unclassified service consists of positions expressly declared by law to be non-competitive/unclassified, or those that are policy-determining, primarily confidential, or highly technical in nature.
Section 5 enumerates non-competitive/unclassified positions that include, among others:
- Officership positions appointed by the President with consent of the Commission on Appointments, except provincial treasurers and assistant chiefs of bureaus and offices, and all inferior officers whose appointments are vested in the President alone;
- Secretarial and office staff of the President, Vice-President, President of the Senate, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and each member of Congress, including committee personnel;
- One private secretary and one assistant private secretary to Heads of Departments and to Justices of the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals;
- Officers required and chosen by Congress under the Constitution;
- Members of the UP and other government collegiate-level teaching force, including business directors and registrars;
- Secretaries of provincial, city, and municipal boards or councils;
- Unskilled laborers (emergency, seasonal or permanent); and
- All supplementary employees in the Senate and the House of Representatives.
Section 6 defines the exempt service to include:
- Elective officers;
- Members of the commissioned and enlisted service of the Army, Navy and Air Force of the Philippines; and
- Persons employed on a contract basis.

Civil Service Commission: structure and powers

Section 7 establishes a Civil Service Commission, headed by a Commissioner of Civil Service who discharges the Commission’s duties and functions.
Section 7 provides that the Commissioner is appointed by the President with the consent of the Commission on Appointments, holds office for a term of nine years, and may not be reappointed.
Section 7 provides that the Commissioner may be removed only for cause after investigation, and that the Commissioner holds the rank of a Department Secretary and is an ex-officio member of the Cabinet.
Section 7 provides for a Deputy Commissioner appointed in the same manner as the Commissioner, who assists and performs assigned duties and acts as head in the Commissioner’s absence.
Section 8 authorizes the Commissioner to establish regional offices at Dagu. pan City, Tuguegarao (Cagayan), Naga City, Iloilo City, Cebu City, Tacloban City, City of Cagayan de Oro, Davao City and Zamboanga City for expeditious service.
Section 8 provides that regional office heads are appointed by the Commissioner and that the head is supported by personnel appointed according to civil service rules.
Section 9 creates a Wage and Position Classification Office responsible for position classification and salary standardization, and provides minimum/maximum salary ranges for listed civil service eligibilities (including First Grade: PHP 2,400 minimum, no limit maximum; Second Grade: PHP 1,800 minimum, PHP 3,720 maximum; Third Grade: PHP 1,440 minimum, PHP 2,400 maximum; Senior Stenographer: PHP 2,400 minimum, no limit maximum; Junior Stenographer: PHP 1,800 minimum, PHP 3,720 maximum; Senior Typist: PHP 1,920 minimum, PHP 3,720 maximum; Junior Typist: PHP 1,560 minimum, PHP 2,400 maximum).
Section 9 requires that the Wage and Position Classification Office be transferred to the Civil Service Commission by Presidential executive order upon full implementation of classification and pay plans.
Section 10 makes the Department Head responsible for personnel administration in the Department and requires that personnel actions follow the Civil Service Law and rules, standards, guidelines and regulations set by the Civil Service Commission.
Section 11 establishes a Civil Service Board of Appeals composed of a Chairman and two members appointed by the President with consent of the Commission on Appointments, who hold office during good behavior unless sooner relieved for cause by the President.
Section 11 requires the Board’s Chairman and members to have the same qualifications as Justices of the Court of Appeals, and sets compensation at PHP 12,000 annual for the Chairman and PHP 10,000 per annum for each member.
Section 11 requires hearings of the Board to be open to the public, mandates that no meeting/hearing proceed unless at least two members are present, and provides that records and minutes are public records subject to the Board’s rules on hours and conditions of inspection.
Section 12 creates a Council of Personnel Officers composed of chief personnel officers of different executive departments and agencies selected by the Commissioner, and authorizes it to elect officers and adopt its own procedural rules.
Section 12 assigns the Council functions including: advising on personnel policies/standards/procedures and personnel problems; promoting uniform and consistent interpretation of personnel policies; and serving as a clearing house and stimulating efficient personnel management methods.
Section 13 authorizes the Commissioner (subject to proper Head of Department approval) to select persons to act as examining committees, special examiners, or special investigators under the Commission’s exclusive control, and to allow additional compensation at rates determined by the Commissioner.

Commissioner’s duties and appointment discipline control

Section 14 sets eligibility for Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner: Philippine citizenship; at least thirty-five (35) years of age; familiarity with principles and methods of personnel administration and sympathy with the merit system; and at least five (5) years of responsible and progressive executive experience.
Section 14 provides a savings rule that nothing in the Act affects the tenures of office of the incumbent Commissioner or Deputy Commissioner.
Section 15 provides that the annual salary of the Commissioner shall not be less than PHP 12,000, and that of the Deputy Commissioner not less than PHP 10,000.
Section 16 lists the Commissioner’s powers and duties, including: advising the President on personnel management; enforcing the merit system provisions; supervising preparation, rating, and control of civil service examinations; fostering personnel policies/standards and assisting agencies; making annual reports to the President and Congress with recommendations.
Section 16 requires the Commissioner, with Presidential approval, to prescribe/amend/enforce rules and regulations implementing the Act, and provides that such rules become effective thirty days after publication in the Official Gazette.
Section 16 grants enforcement powers including investigations and special reports, inspection and audit of agency personnel work programs, corrective measures for unsatisfactory conditions, and issuance of subpoena and subpoena duces tecum.
Section 16 provides the Commissioner with exclusive jurisdiction over approval under the Civil Service Law and rules of appointments (including promotions) in the competitive service.
Section 16 provides that, except as otherwise provided by law, the Commissioner has final authority to pass upon removal, separation and suspension of permanent officers and employees in the competitive/classified service, and to prescribe standards for discipline administration.
Section 16 provides for appeal jurisdiction: the Commissioner hears and determines appeals by any person aggrieved by an appointing authority’s action contrary to the Law and rules, may investigate as deemed advisable, and may affirm/review/modify the action; the Commissioner’s decision is final.
Section 17 makes the Regional Director the immediate representative of the Commissioner, performing assigned duties within the territorial limits for examinations, appointments, promotions, investigations, and enforcement.
Section 18 empowers the Civil Service Board of Appeals to adopt rules for cases before it and to hear and decide administrative cases on appeal from the Commissioner, with a duty to decide within ninety (90) days after submission and making its decisions final.

Qualifications, recruitment, and personnel actions

Section 19 requires all public officers to comply with and aid the carrying into effect of the Act and its rules and regulations.
Section 22 declares policy of equal pay for equal work and bases pay differences on differences in duties, responsibilities, and qualification requirements, with due regard to increases for seniority, longevity, efficiency of service, and the just demands of a family living wage.
Section 23 requires opportunities for government employment to be open to all qualified citizens and requires positive efforts to attract the best-qualified.
Section 23 requires selection of employees based on fitness to perform duties and assume responsibilities in either competitive/classified or non-competitive/unclassified service.
Section 23 mandates that when a vacancy occurs in a competitive/classified position, the next in rank who is competent, qualified, and has appropriate civil service eligibility must be promoted.
Section 23 provides seniority preference where two or more persons are under equal circumstances.
Section 23 requires that if an officer/employee is not to be promoted for special reasons, the special reasons must be stated in writing by the appointing official, the affected officer/employee must be informed and given opportunity to be heard by the Commissioner, whose decision is final.
Section 23 provides that if the vacancy is not filled by the promotion rule, it shall be filled by promotion or by transfer of present employees, reinstatement, reemployment after reduction in force, or certification from appropriate registers of eligibles in accordance with rules.
Section 23 requires qualification in an appropriate examination for appointment to competitive/classified positions, except as otherwise provided in the Act.
Section 23 prohibits appointment of any person not a civil service eligible to competitive/classified vacant positions even in a temporary capacity when a civil service eligible is available.
Section 23 provides a qualifying-examination mechanism for non-eligible employees who, upon approval of the Act, have rendered five years or more of continuous and satisfactory service in classified positions and meet other appointment qualifications: within one year from approval, they shall be given qualifying examinations with their length of satisfactory service accorded preferred consideration.
Section 23 requires that those who fail the qualifying examinations, or fail/refuse to take examinations when offered, shall be replaced by eligibles.
Section 23 allows a cultural-minorities appointment dispensation for a period of ten (10) years from approval when appointment is in the interest of the service as determined by the appointing authority and concurred by the Commissioner: examination requirements may be dispensed with in appointments within their respective provinces if educational and other qualifications required for the office are met.
Section 23 requires civil service examination results to be released simultaneously and requires that names of competitors attaining required passing grades be entered in a register of eligibles in the order of their average ratings.
Section 24 defines personnel action to include appointment, promotion, transfer, demotion, separation and reinstatement.
Section 24 authorizes appointment as permanent, provisional, or temporary and provides conditions for each:
- Permanent appointment requires meeting all position requirements; requires serving a probationary period of six months after original appointment and undergoing a thorough character investigation to acquire permanent civil service status; and allows dropping a probationer anytime before probation ends for unsatisfactory conduct or want of capacity, subject to appeal under Section 16, paragraph (j).
- Provisional appointment may be issued upon prior Commissioner authorization to a person who has not qualified in an appropriate examination but meets requirements for appointment to a regular competitive position, when a vacancy exists and filling it is necessary in the interest of the service and there is no appropriate register of eligibles at the time of appointment.
- Temporary appointment may be given to a position needed only for a limited period not exceeding six months, with preference in filling given to persons on appropriate eligible lists.
- Other personnel actions require reporting to the Commission according to the Act and rules.
Section 24 prohibits any person appointed to a non-competitive or unclassified position from performing duties properly belonging to a competitive service position.
Section 24 requires reduction in force when necessary due to lack of work or funds, necessary change in agency program scope/nature, or economy, and mandates comparison within the same group/class of positions by relative fitness, efficiency, and length of service, laying off those least qualified; the Commissioner must promulgate rules and regulations to carry out the reduction-in-force provisions.
Section 20 permits the Commissioner to delegate personnel-matter authority to chiefs of divisions/heads of primary units in the Commission or to heads of departments/agencies and local instrumentalities, subject to standards, guidelines and regulations set by the Commissioner, and provides special deputization rules for provincial treasurers and city treasurers.
Section 20 sets the deputized testing/attestation mechanics: provincial treasurers test appointments by provincial governors and municipal mayors; city treasurers attest appointments by city mayors; appointments become effective upon issuance and attestation; appointees are entitled to collect the compensation rate fixed; appointments must be forwarded within ten days to the Commissioner for review; if the Commissioner makes no correction/revision within one hundred eighty days after receipt, appointments are deemed properly made; the provincial/city treasurer authority automatically ceases upon establishment of regional offices; and periodic review must be embodied in an annual report.

Training, performance rating, incentives, and employee relations

Section 25 declares employee performance development a primary concern and mandates a continuing program of employee training, supervisory, career and executive development under the Civil Service Commission’s leadership at all levels.
Section 25 requires each department/bureau/office/agency to have an appropriate training staff and establish its own in-service training program aligned with Commission standards.
Section 25 authorizes the Commission to request technical assistance from the Budget Commission, Institute of Public Administration, and other professional/technical organizations for promotion of training programs.
Section 25 requires organization and execution of a continuing executive development program through the Institute of Public Administration of the University of the Philippines with cooperation of the Budget Commission, Civil Service Commission and National Economic Council.
Section 26 requires establishment of a performance rating system administered under Commission rules/standards for all officers and employees in both competitive and non-competitive service, designed to continually foster improvement of individual efficiency.
Section 26 permits departments/agencies, after consultation and approval by the Commission, to establish performance rating plans appropriate to group positions, but prohibits giving/using any performance rating as basis for personnel actions except under an approved plan using Commission-approved forms and standards/procedures.
Section 26 requires each employee to be informed periodically by supervisors about efficiency ratings.
Section 27 mandates a government-wide Employee Suggestions and Incentive Award System administered under Commission rules/standards.
Section 27 requires the Commission to report annually results of the program with recommendations to the President and Congress.
Section 27 authorizes the President or Head of Department to pay cash awards and incur necessary expenses for honorary recognition of subordinate officers and employees who contribute to efficiency, economy, improvements in government operations, or who perform extraordinary acts/services in the public interest related to official employment.
Section 27 sets an award cap: the Commission prescribes monetary or other awards and each monetary award shall not exceed one thousand pesos, to be paid out of the savings of the department concerned.
Section 28 requires every head of department/bureau/office/agency to take proper steps toward good employee-supervisor relations and improved employee morale, including provisions for employees’ health, welfare, counseling, recreation and similar services.
Section 28 grants employees the right to present complaints and/or grievances to management and have them adjudicated expeditiously at the proper echelon, and grants the right to appeal decisions to higher authorities.
Section 28 requires each department/bureau/office/agency to promulgate rules for expeditious, fair and equitable adjustment of employees’ complaints/grievances in accordance with the Act’s policies.
Section 28 declares policy that government employees shall not strike for securing changes in their terms and conditions of employment; it allows government employees to belong to labor organizations that do not impose obligations to strike or join strikes, and limits the strike prohibition to employees employed in governmental functions, excluding those employed in proprietary functions including governmental corporations.

Prohibited conduct in civil service employment

Section 29 prohibits civil service officers and employees, whether in competitive/classified or non-competitive/unclassified service, from engaging directly or indirectly in partisan political activities or taking part in any election except to vote.
Section 29 allows officers and employees to express views on current political problems/issues and to mention the names of candidates for public office they support.
Section 30 prohibits all appointments in national, provincial, city and municipal governments and their branches/instrumentalities (including government-owned or non-competitive service) made in favor of relatives of the appointing/recommending authority, the bureau/office chief, or the person exercising immediate supervision over the appointee.
Section 30 defines relative for nepotism as related within the third degree of consanguinity or affinity.
Section 30 exempts from nepotism rules: (1) persons employed in a confidential capacity, (2) teachers, (3) physicians, and (4) members of the Armed Forces of the Philippines; it requires a full report of such appointments to the Civil Service Commission in each particular instance.
Section 30 provides a marriage exception: the nepotism restriction does not apply when, after appointment in an office/bureau, a member of a family contracts marriage with someone in the same office/bureau, allowing retention/employment of both husband and wife.
Section 30 provides remedial effects for prior nepotism-contrary appointments: such cases must be corrected by transfer; pending transfer, no promotion or salary increase is allowed in favor of the relative(s) appointed in violation.
Section 31 prohibits any civil service officer/employee from receiving additional or double compensation unless specifically authorized by law.

Discipline, suspension, appeals, and removal

Section 32 prohibits removal or suspension of any civil service officer/employee except for cause as provided by law and after due process.
Section 32 clarifies that a transfer from one position to another without reduction in rank or salary is not disciplinary when made in the interest of public service.
Section 32 requires that no complaint against a civil service official/employee be given due course unless it is in writing and subscribed and sworn by the complainant.
Section 32 grants the respondent a right to a formal investigation if elected, including rights to appear and defend in person or by counsel, confront and cross-examine witnesses, and secure attendance of witnesses and production of documents via subpoena or subpoena duces tecum.
Section 33 authorizes the Commissioner to remove, demote, suspend up to one year without pay or fine up to an amount not exceeding six months’ salary for specified grounds including dishonesty, oppression, misconduct, neglect of duty, conviction of a crime involving moral turpitude, notoriously disgraceful or immoral conduct, improper/unauthorized solicitation of contributions from subordinate employees, similar misconduct by teachers or school officials from school children, violation of existing civil service law and rules or reasonable office regulations, or in the interest of the service.
Section 33 requires that like penalties be imposed for like offenses and that only one penalty be imposed in each case.
Section 34 empowers the President to suspend any chief or assistant chief of a bureau or office (and, absent special provision, any other officer appointed by him) pending investigation of charges or the officer’s bureau/office.
Section 34 authorizes bureau/office chiefs, with approval of the proper Head of Department, to preventively suspend subordinate officers/employees when charges involve dishonesty, oppression or grave misconduct, or neglect in performance of duty and strong reasons exist to believe removal would be warranted.
Section 35 provides that when an administrative case under preventive suspension is not finally decided by the Commissioner within sixty (60) days from suspension, the respondent is reinstated; if exonerated, the respondent is restored to position with full pay for the suspension period.
Section 36 allows the respondent to appeal the Commissioner’s decision in administrative disciplinary cases to the Civil Service Board of Appeals within thirty (30) days after receipt of the decision.
Section 36 prohibits filing a petition for reconsideration outside the appeal period; it allows only one petition for reconsideration, and filing it suspends the running of the appeal period.
Section 37 authorizes the President, in meritorious cases and upon recommendation of the Civil Service Board of Appeals, to commute or remove administrative penalties or disabilities, subject to terms and conditions imposed in the interest of the service.
Section 11 separately requires the Board of Appeals to decide appeals within ninety (90) days after submission for decision and makes its decision final.

Examinations, fees, appropriations, and rights protections

Section 38 authorizes the Commissioner, in discretion, to prescribe an equitable schedule of examination fees not exceeding two pesos per candidate.
Section 38 requires refund of examination fees for applicants whose applications are disapproved.
Section 38 provides that examination-fee funds form a special fund of the Civil Service Commission used exclusively for the Commission’s expenses.
Section 39 appropriates PHP 250,000 to finance regional offices’ salaries, maintenance and operating expenses and salaries of certain positions for fiscal year nineteen hundred and sixty, and requires later inclusion of needed sums in the General Appropriations Act.
Section 40 prohibits any public officer or employee acting for a public officer from requiring an applicant or employee to sign any waiver that renounces any right accruing under the Act.
Section 41 authorizes Commission officers, attorneys, and examiners to administer necessary oaths for official business, and authorizes the Commissioner or other persons conducting authorized investigations to administer oaths and take testimony; it requires written authorization for other employees permitted to administer oaths by the Commissioner.
Section 42 prohibits treasurers or fiscal officers from drawing/retaining salary amounts for non-government obligations, signing/issuing warrants/checks/vouchers for salary payments, and limits salary payments to cases with proper Civil Service Commission certification; it makes the official personally liable for salaries/wages paid to persons whose appointments were not duly approved, without prejudice to administrative or criminal liability.
Section 43 provides that no person employed in the civil service in violation of the Civil Service Law and rules is entitled to receive pay from the Government; it makes the responsible appointing authority personally liable for the pay that would have accrued had the employment been lawful, and requires the disbursing official to pay the employee from the liable officers’ salaries.

Offenses, penalties, and repeal/effectivity

Section 44 provides penal sanctions: any person who makes an appointment or employs any person in violation of the Act or rules, or who violates/refuses/neglects compliance with any provision or rule, is punishable upon conviction by a fine not exceeding one thousand pesos or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, in the court’s discretion.
Section 45 repeals specified sections of the Revised Administrative Code (sections six hundred fifty-nine to six hundred sixty-two, six hundred sixty-four to six hundred sixty-five, six hundred sixty-eight to six hundred seventy-four, six hundred eighty, six hundred eighty-two, six hundred ninety, six hundred ninety-four to six hundred ninety-six, as amended), Commonwealth Act No. 598, and all other inconsistent laws, executive orders, administrative orders, circulars and memoranda.
Section 46 provides separability: if any part/section/provision of the Act is held invalid or unconstitutional, other parts are unaffected.
Section 47 provides effectivity: the Act takes effect upon approval (June 19, 1959), with a savings clause preserving vested or acquired rights/privileges under the old Civil Service Law, rules and regulations prior to effectivity, except as otherwise provided in the Act.