Legal basis and policy objectives
- Republic Act No. 7041 requires regular publication of existing vacant positions in government offices, and these rules implement that requirement (pursuant to Section 6 of Republic Act No. 7041).
- The Government policy is to promote efficiency in the allocation of personnel in the civil service (Section 2).
- The Government policy is to promote transparency and equal opportunities in the recruitment and hiring of new personnel (Section 2).
Key definitions and terms
- Qualification standards are the minimum requirements of the vacant position, including education, experience, training, civil service eligibility, physical characteristics, and personality traits; these qualification standards must be approved by the Civil Service Commission (Section 3(a)).
- A Bulletin is a complete list of all vacant positions in the government together with their corresponding qualification standards issued by the Civil Service Commission every quarter of the year (Section 3(b)).
- A Personnel Officer refers to the highest Administrative Officer/ Human Resource Management Officer in the unit, section, department, or agency, or any person acting in such capacity as authorized by the head of office (Section 3(c)).
Coverage and regulated institutions
- These rules apply to all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities, and agencies of the Government (Section 1).
- These rules apply to government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters, state colleges and universities, and local government units (Section 1).
- The rules regulate the posting, submission, and publication process for vacant positions authorized to be filled (Sections 4, 5, 7, 8).
Vacant positions: posting and authorization
- All vacant positions in the agency authorized to be filed must be posted in at least three (3) conspicuous places in the respective offices (Section 4(a)).
- A vacant position is authorized to be filled when funds have been allocated for it and the appointing authority signifies intention to fill it (Section 4(b)).
- The Personnel Officer must identify all unfilled/vacant positions in the agency (Section 5(a)(1)).
- The Personnel Officer must post a complete list of vacant positions authorized to be filled for ten (10) days in three (3) conspicuous places in the agency offices (Section 5(a)(2)).
Submission and regular monthly updates
- The Personnel Officer must submit to the Civil Service Commission a copy of the list of vacant positions and their corresponding qualification standards within thirty (30) days upon effectivity of these Rules (Section 5(a)(3)).
- After the initial submission, submission must be made not later than the 10th day of every month (Section 5(a)(3)).
- Submission must follow the routing system below (Section 5(b)):
- To the Civil Service Provincial Office for Local Government Units (Section 5(b)(3.1.1)).
- To the Civil Service Field Office for:
- Department proper and its bureaus and offices (Section 5(b)(3.2.1)), and
- Government-owned and controlled corporations (including financial institutions) proper and their branches or regional offices where the head is not authorized to appoint (Section 5(b)(3.2.2)).
- To the Civil Service Regional Office for:
- Regional offices of department and regionalized bureaus within its jurisdiction (Section 5(b)(3.3.1)),
- Branches or regional offices of Government-Owned or Controlled Corporations where the head is empowered to appoint (Section 5(b)(3.3.2)), and
- State Universities and Colleges (Section 5(b)(3.3.3)).
- Field and Provincial Offices must forward received lists to the Civil Service Regional Office that has jurisdiction (Section 5(b)).
- The Regional Office must submit all lists it received to the Commission Proper (Section 5(b)).
Publication by CSC and bulletin contents
- The Civil Service Commission must publish, every quarter, a complete list of all existing vacant positions in the government throughout the country, including the qualification standards required for each position (Section 7(a)).
- Any qualified person may apply for any of these vacancies (Section 7(b)).
- The Civil Service Commission must consolidate all agency lists and corresponding qualification standards (Section 8(a)(1)).
- The Civil Service Commission must print the consolidated lists in bulletin form (Section 8(a)(2)).
- The Civil Service Commission must certify under oath the completion of the bulletin publication; the bulletin is known as the Bulletin of Vacancies in the Civil Service (Section 8(a)(3)).
- Subsequent bulletin issues include only positions that are either:
- Vacant because of death, resignation, retirement, or transfer of the former incumbent, or
- Newly created (Section 8(b)).
Distribution and public access
- The Civil Service Commission distributes and disseminates the Bulletin free of charge to various personnel offices of the government, provided that:
- It is available for inspection by the public, and
- For local government units, the Bulletin is posted by the Administrative/Personnel Officer in at least three (3) public and conspicuous places in their respective municipalities and provinces (Section 9(a)(1) and Section 9(a)(1.2)).
- The Civil Service Commission sells the Bulletin to the public at cost through its regional/provincial/field offices or through accredited book stores (Section 9(a)(2)).
Exceptions and excluded positions
- These rules do not cover positions that are:
- primarily confidential;
- policy-determining;
- highly technical;
- coterminous with that of the appointing authority;
- contractual positions or positions whose tenure is limited to the duration of a particular project; and
- other non-career positions identified under Section 9, Subtitle A, Title I, Book V of Executive Order No. 292 (Section 6(a)(1)-(6)).
Prohibition on filling unposted vacancies
- The appointing authority must not fill a vacant position unless the vacancy has been duly posted by the agency in accordance with Sections 4 and 5 and included in the Bulletin of Vacant Positions published by the Civil Service Commission (Section 10(a)).
- The Civil Service Commission must not act on any appointment to fill up a vacant position unless the same posting and bulletin inclusion requirements are met (Section 10(a)).
Criminal liability and penalties
- Responsible officials who violate Republic Act No. 7041 or fail to abide by these rules are penalized (Section 11(a)).
- For first offenses, the penalty is public censure, without prejudice to the withholding of the official’s salary (Section 11(a)(1)).
- For second offense, etc., a responsible official faces criminal prosecution, and upon conviction the court imposes imprisonment of two (2) years and/or a fine of not less than PHP 5,000.00 nor more than PHP 10,000.00, at the court’s discretion (Section 11(a)(2)).
Investigation, prosecution, and jurisdiction
- The Civil Service Commission has original and exclusive jurisdiction to investigate and recommend for prosecution cases of violation of the Act (Section 12(a)).
- If the alleged violation is committed by the Chairman and/or any of the Commission of the Civil Service Commission, the Ombudsman has original and exclusive jurisdiction over investigation and prosecution (Section 12(a)).
Hiring ban and inapplicability
- These rules do not apply during any period when there is a ban on hiring, without prejudice to existing laws requiring posting or disclosure of matters of public interest (Section 13(a)).
Repeal or amendment and effectivity
- All existing rules and regulations inconsistent with these rules are repealed or amended accordingly (Section 14(a)).
- The rules take effect thirty (30) days after completion of their publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation (Section 15(a)).