Authority and board composition
- The Commission shall appoint three persons to form the Philippine Civil Service Board (Section 1).
- The Commission shall designate one member as Chairman and another as secretary (Section 1).
- The Commission may designate, at its discretion, from among the members a chief examiner (Section 1).
- Eligibility for appointment as a Board member is limited to a person who is a native of the Philippine Islands owing and acknowledging allegiance to the United States, or a citizen of the United States (Section 2).
- Each Board member must reside in Manila during incumbency and receives an annual salary of three thousand dollars plus necessary traveling expenses while performing official duties (Section 3).
- If designated as chief examiner, the member receives an additional five hundred dollars annual compensation (Section 3).
Declared purpose and merit system
- Section 4 declares the Act’s purpose as the establishment and maintenance of an efficient and honest civil service in the executive branches of the Government of the Philippine Islands, including central, departmental, and provincial units and the city of Manila.
- Section 4 requires appointments and promotions to be made according to merit.
- Section 4 requires competitive examinations where practicable to secure merit-based selection.
- Section 4 imposes a duty on officers in the Philippine civil service to aid in implementing the Board’s rules and modifications.
Coverage and covered offices
- The Act applies to appointments of civilians to executive positions under the following offices (Section 5):
- the Military Governor
- the United States Philippine Commission
- the Treasurer for the Islands
- the Auditor for the Islands
- the Collector of Customs for the Islands
- the Collector of Inland Revenue for the Islands
- the Director of Posts for the Islands
- the Civil Service Board
- the Bureau of Forestry
- the Bureau of Mines
- the General Superintendent of Public Instruction
- Wardens of penitentiaries and prisons
- the Provost-Marshal-General of Manila
- the Captain of the Port at Manila
- The Act covers the classification of offices and employments specified by the Board through rules (Section 6).
- Section 23 excludes the selection of school-teachers of the Department of Public Instruction, for which special legislation will be provided.
- Section 20 exempts certain offices from the competitive-examination entrance/promotion requirements and establishes a later vacancy-filling rule after the Board certifies a sufficient eligible list (see below).
Board powers and governing rules
- The Board must prepare rules adapted to carry out the Act’s purpose (Section 4).
- Section 6 requires the rules to provide for:
- classification of all offices and employments specified in Section 5 (Section 6(a))
- appointment to offices requiring technical, professional, or scientific knowledge by competitive or noncompetitive examinations, or otherwise, as the Board determines (Section 6(b))
- selection of police force members and fire department members in the city of Manila, and guards at prisons and penitentiaries, by competitive or noncompetitive examination, or otherwise, as the Board determines after consultation with the Military Governor and his approval (Section 6(c))
- selection of laborers, skilled and unskilled by noncompetitive examinations aligned to the priority of applications, which may be limited to capacity to labor, habits of industry and sobriety, and honesty (and need not relate beyond those limits if the Board so limits them) (Section 6(d))
- promotion within the classified service from one rank to the next higher rank by competitive examination, and allowing credit for prior experience and efficiency subject to Board limitations (credit requires the applicant to attain a minimum average percentage fixed by the Board; no credit if the applicant does not meet that minimum) (Section 6(e))
- a probation period before appointment or employment becomes permanent (Section 6(f))
- open competitive examinations of a practical character at Manila, Iloilo, and Cebu for original appointments to the classified service; and practical fitness exams for promotion (and preparing and holding the same examinations in the United States under the auspices of the United States Civil Service Commission for original appointment) (Section 6(g))
- selection according to average percentage from among those certified by the Board as rated highest in the competition (Section 6(h))
- transfers under limitations fixed by the rules, including transfers between branches of the classified service and from the Federal classified civil service of the United States to the classified service of the Philippine Islands (Section 6(i))
- reinstatements under limitations fixed by the rules (Section 6(j))
- language examination rules: examiners test Spanish for applicants who are citizens of the United States and English for applicants who are natives of the Philippine Islands, whenever the Board decides both languages are essential to efficient discharge (Section 6(k))
- noncompetitive examinations when applicants fail to compete after due notice of an open competitive examination for an existing vacancy (Section 6(l))
- thorough physical examination by a competent physician for applicants in the United States, with rejection of those physically disqualified for efficient service in the Philippines (Section 6(m))
- age limitations for entry to the lowest rank of the classified service: maximum age not greater than forty years and minimum age not less than eighteen (Section 6(n))
- eliciting from all exam applicants full information on citizenship, nativity, age, education, physical qualifications, and other fitness-affecting information reasonably required (Section 6(o))
- temporary service employment of clerks and other employees for up to ninety days, under terms not exceeding ninety days, with a prohibition against employing the same person under this exception for more than ninety days in a year (Section 6(p))
- the Board’s authority to adopt additional rules not violating the Act’s limitations to more efficiently enforce the Act (the enumerated subjects are not exclusive) (Section 6(q))
- The Board keeps minutes of its proceedings and submits an annual report to the Military Governor and the Commission on or before the first day of January of each year, detailing proceedings, adopted rules, their practical effect, and suggestions (Section 7).
- The Board supervises preparation and rating of all examinations in the Philippines under the Act (Section 8).
- The Board may designate persons in the civil service to conduct examinations and serve on examining committees, and may designate special-qualification examiners from within the service after consultation with proper officers (Section 8).
- Duties of examining committee members and special examiners are part of their official duties and are performed without extra compensation (Section 8).
- If persons with needed special qualifications cannot be found in the Philippine service, the Board may employ outside persons for reasonable compensation paid from the general funds appropriated for the Board, on the Board’s order (Section 8).
- The Board may conduct investigations and report on enforcement matters, and may administer oaths, summon witnesses, and require production of relevant official books and records (Section 9).
- The Board shall maintain a permanent office in the city of Manila (Section 10).
- When examinations are held in Manila, Iloilo, or Cebu, officers having custody of public buildings must allow their reasonable use for examinations (Section 10).
Notification, records, and salary-payment illegality
- The head of each office covered by the Act must notify the Board in writing without delay of:
- all appointments (permanent, temporary, or probational)
- all rejections after the probation period
- all transfers, promotions, reductions, resignations, or vacancies and the date thereof
(Section 11).
- The Board keeps a record of the notifications received (Section 11).
- If the Board finds a person is holding a position in violation of the Act or Board rules, it must certify the fact to the disbursing and auditing officers through whom salary or wages payment is legally made (Section 12).
- If thereafter a disbursing or auditing officer pays or permits payment despite certification, the disbursing officer shall not receive credit for the payment, and the auditing officer authorizing payment is liable on his official bond for loss resulting to the proper government (Section 12).
Investigating and administering examinations
- Examining personnel and special examiners act as part of official duties without extra compensation (Section 8).
- Where needed, outside specialists may be employed at reasonable compensation paid from Board general funds by Board order (Section 8).
- Investigations into enforcement issues include power to administer oaths, summon witnesses, and require production of relevant records (Section 9).
Eligibility, admissions, and competitive examination access
- No person is eligible for the Board itself unless qualified under Section 2 (Section 2).
- Competitive examinations for admission under the Act are limited to applicants who are either:
- citizens of the United States, or
- natives of the Philippine Islands, or
- persons who acquired the political rights of natives under the Treaty of Paris (Section 28).
- Every applicant must take and subscribe an oath before admission to examination in the Islands, before a justice of the peace in the province where the applicant is, or before a member of the Civil Service Board authorized to administer oaths (Section 16).
- The oath requires acceptance of the supreme authority of the United States of America in these Islands and a commitment of faith and allegiance, obedience to laws and legal orders of duly constituted authorities, and voluntary undertaking without mental reservation or purpose of evasion (Section 16).
- The “OATH OF APPLICANT” includes the formula “So help me God.” and expressly provides that the last four words are to be stricken out in case of affirmation (Section 16).
- The applicant’s oath must be filed with the secretary of the Board (Section 16).
Political neutrality prohibitions
- No civil service officer or employee may directly or indirectly give or hand over any money or valuable thing to any other officer or employee to be applied to promoting any political object, and violators are subject to a penalty not exceeding five hundred dollars or imprisonment not exceeding six months, or both, and upon conviction the violator is removed from office (Section 17).
- No person in the civil service may be required to contribute to a political fund or render a political service, and no person may be removed or otherwise prejudiced for refusing (Section 18).
- Any person soliciting political contributions from public officers or employees is subject to the same penalties as those under Section 17 (Section 18).
- No inquiry may be made, and no consideration may be given, regarding political or religious opinions or affiliations of persons examined for entrance or persons examined for promotion (Section 15).
- Disloyalty to the United States of America as the supreme authority in these Islands is a complete disqualification for holding office in the Philippine civil service (Section 15).
Appointment and priority preferences
- When appointing officers select from a Board-provided list of eligibles, where other qualifications are equal, the appointing officer must prefer:
- First: natives of the Philippine Islands
- Second: all honorable discharged soldiers, sailors, and marines of the United States
(Section 19).
Exemptions from competitive examination
- Certain positions are excluded from the Act’s entrance into the civil service or promotion requirements by competitive examination (Section 20), including:
- Treasurer for the Islands
- Auditor for the Islands
- Collector of Customs for the Islands
- Deputy Collector of Customs for the Islands
- Collector of Inland Revenue for the Islands
- Director of Posts for the Islands
- head of the Bureau of Forestry
- head of the Bureau of Mines
- Superintendent of Public Instruction
- members of the Civil Service Board
- and one private secretary for each of the Military Governor and each member of the United States Philippine Commission
- After eighteen months from the date the Board certifies it has a sufficient list of eligibles to supply vacancies, vacancies occurring in the foregoing offices (except the described private secretaryships) must be filled without examination from a class composed of the first, second, and third assistants in those offices, enabling transfer of a competent person between offices (Section 20).
- Section 21 exempts the office of:
- cashier of the Collector of Customs for the Islands
- Captain of the Port at Manila
- collector of customs at Iloilo
- collector of customs at Cebu
from the competitive examination entrance/promotion requirements until one year after the Board makes the certificate prescribed in Section 20.
- After that one-year period, vacancies in the offices in Section 21 must be filled by promotion by competitive examination as in other cases (Section 21).
Probation, permanency, and existing employees
- Board rules must include a period of probation before appointment or employment becomes permanent (Section 6(f)).
- Employees then currently employed in the civil service whose positions are classified by operation of the Act continue in service and discharge their assigned duties unless dismissed by proper authority (Section 22).
- The Board may require by rule that such employees pass examinations practically adapted to show fitness to fill the positions they hold.
- If such employees fail the Board’s examinations to the satisfaction of the Board, they must be dismissed from the service (Section 22).
Temporary appointments during transition
- After passage of the Act, no civilian may be employed in the offices specified in Section 5 except in accordance with the Act (Section 25).
- Between passage and the date the Board officially informs the Military Governor and the Commission that it is ready to certify eligible lists for appointments to fill any vacancy, appointments for temporary service may be made to fill vacancies or newly created offices.
- Such temporary appointments must continue only until certification is made and vacancies can be filled regularly under Board requirements and adopted rules (Section 25).
- Persons temporarily appointed may compete in examinations held for regular entrance to the classified service (Section 25).
Board promulgation and administrative mechanics
- The Board’s prepared and certified rule must be promulgated by executive order of the Military Governor (Section 24).
Funds and monetary reference
- Whenever a sum of money is mentioned in the Act, it refers to money of the United States (Section 26).
Investigations into examination wrongdoing
- Any civil service person who willfully or corruptly defeats, deceives, or obstructs another person’s right of examination, or willfully/corruptly falsely rates, grades, estimates, or reports on examination results, or willfully/corruptly makes false representations relating to the examination, or willfully/corruptly furnishes special or secret information to improve or injure chances of an examinee or candidate for employment/appointment/promotion is punished for each offense by:
- a fine not exceeding one thousand dollars, or
- imprisonment for a period not exceeding one year, or
- both (Section 13).
- A person who willfully and corruptly becomes the beneficiary of an act in violation of the immediately preceding section is punished under the same penalty scheme (Section 14).
Oaths and executive reporting duties
- Each office head must certify to the Board, upon application by the Board, a complete list of officers and employees engaged therein and a full statement of duties performed and compensation received (Section 27).
- The Board’s annual report is submitted on or before the first day of January to the Military Governor and the Commission, summarizing proceedings, adopted rules, practical effect, and suggestions (Section 7).
Prohibited inquiries and disqualifications
- No inquiry and no consideration are allowed regarding political or religious opinions or affiliations of persons examined for entrance into the service, or officers/employees in promotion matters (Section 15).
- Disloyalty to the United States of America as supreme authority in these Islands is a complete disqualification for holding office in the Philippine civil service (Section 15).