Diversity of Policies and Practices in the Civil Service:

The Philippine Experience

Policies, practices and initiatives of the Philippine
government to address the issues of diversity in the
workplace along the processes of recruitment, appointment,
promotion and retention.
It will also highlight some issues and concerns and
recommendations to address them.
The Philippines is a country of diverse culture, ethnicity,
language and racial origin. There are eight (8) major
languages and more than 100 sublanguages and dialects.
For example, if one goes to the province of Bulacan and
travels from one town to another, which may just be a
distance of one or two kilometers, one would notice distinct
variations in the sub-languages and dialects used. The fact
that the country has about 7,100 islands reinforces this
diversity.

Diversity is not limited to cultures with different

nationalities and belief.
It also encompasses:
``gender difference
``ethnicity
``persons with disability

Brief Background on Personnel Administration in the

Philippines
Appointments in the Philippine civil service are made in
accordance with the principle of merit and fitness.
Opportunities for government employment are open to all
provided they meet the qualification requirements.

evaluation system which is done every six (6) months. Those

who perform well and exceed the target by more than 50%
may be given an Outstanding rating.
The employee could also be a candidate for promotion and
may be rewarded through other forms of incentives. On the
other hand, a Poor performance could be a ground for
separation from the service.
There is an Honor Awards Program conferred by the
President of the Philippines which recognizes outstanding
employees every year.
In the PHILIPPINE setting, the actual scenario of receiving
an outstanding merit has become a disappointment. Civil
servants have become very "tamad"/lazy in performing their
duties especially when it comes to innovation because they
only focus on improving some statistics by a few
percentages (5% for example).

General Policy and Legal Framework

There are several landmark legislations and policies to
ensure that women, persons with disabilities and indigenous
people are empowered and given equal access to economic,
social and political opportunities.
The highest law of the land, the Philippine Constitution,
states in the Bill of Rights that no person shall be deprived
of life, liberty or property without due process of law, nor
shall any person be denied the equal protection of the laws.
Full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and
unorganized, and the promotion of full employment and
quality of employment opportunities for all are also
guaranteed.

A major requirement is an eligibility which is obtained

through an examination. For every position in government,
minimum standards are set pertaining to education, training,
experience and eligibility requirements.

For women, the state upholds the fundamental equality

between women and men before the law and recognizes the
role of women in nation building.

What usually happens in real life is very sad. One must

need to provide offering to the person in power in order to
receive favor and a place in his office. 'the whom you know'
system of the Philippines.

Accordingly, women shall be protected by providing safe and

healthful working conditions, taking into account their
maternal functions, facilities and opportunities that will
enable them to realize their full potential.

The development and retention of highly competent

professional workforce are continuing concerns of the
government. The Philippine Civil Service Commission (PCSC)
made a policy that employees are to be provided with at
least two (2) human resource development interventions
every year for their personal growth and career
advancement.

For disabled persons, the state has guaranteed the

establishment of a special agency for disabled persons for
their rehabilitation, self-development and self-reliance and
their integration into the mainstream of society.

A scholarship program (local and foreign) was established to

provide educational and other learning opportunities for
various levels of personnel.
The competence of the employees in the civil service is
gauged through the administration of performance

For indigenous peoples, the Constitution recognizes,

respects and protects their rights and ensures the
preservation and development of their cultures, traditions,
and institutions.

Laws and Policies on Diversity to Address Specific

Sectors

I. Women
(a) the allocation of a substantial portion of official
development assistance (ODA) to women in development
programs/projects/activities;
(b) the review/revision of all government regulations,
circulars, issuances and procedures to remove gender bias;
(c) the active participation of women and womens
organizations indevelopment programs; and,
(d) the equal right of women and men to enter into
contracts, become member in clubs, gain admission to
military schools and, as a spouse who does household work
full-time, get social security insurance and housing
As early as 1975, an organization, the National Commission
on the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW), was created to
review, evaluate and recommend measures, including
priorities to ensure the full integration of women for
economic, social and cultural development at all levels and to
ensure further equality between women and men. The
NCRFW had been reorganized several times to make it more
responsive the needs of the Filipino women.
There were also a number of programs that addressed
violence against women (VAW) and womens lack of
economic empowerment, namely: the National Family
Violence Prevention Program and the Productivity Skills and
Capability Building Program.
As the central personnel agency of the government, the
PCSC has been very proactive in mainstreaming gender and
development concerns in the recruitment, appointment,
promotion and retention processes. The following policies,
programs and initiatives are significant milestones:
(a) A full flexi-time schedule which allows the employees to
start and end work at a time convenient to him/her provided
that the same shall not be prejudicial to the prompt and
efficient delivery of service and shall not disrupt the daily
operations of the office. Work hours shall be from 7:00 a.m.
to 7:00 p.m. Thus, employees are given the option to set
their work schedule provided that the core working hours of
9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. are observed. Moreover, employees
are required to render at least forty hours of work in a week.
(b) The maternity leave policy has been made more flexible.
A woman is now given the option to return to her work
before the expiration of her two month leave. This allows her
to receive the benefits granted under the Maternity Leave
Law and the salary for actual services rendered effective the
day she reports for work. In 1998, the maternity leave policy
was expanded to include unmarried women and contractual
employees.
(c) The PCSC established in 1989 a model Day Care Center
for the employees children where the play-study method is
used. In addition, a Breastfeeding Center has been put up.

Other agencies are being encouraged to put up their own

day-care and breastfeeding centers.
(d) There were affirmative policies which specifically state
that no pregnant women shall be discriminated against on
matters of promotion and career development. In 1990, the
policy which prevents women with children below two (2)
years old and without the consent of their husbands from
attending foreign training and scholarship opportunities, was
removed.
(e) There were provisions for reproductive health concerns
which include annual Pap smear and mammography tests for
women ages 35 and above.
(f) A Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI) was
created in all government agencies to ensure proper
investigation in the handling of sexual harassment cases
with representation from the GAD Focal Persons.
(g) Policies and initiatives to promote and ensure a sexual
harassment free environment were also formulated, e.g.,
The Administrative Rules on Sexual Harassment Cases which
provide uniform interpretation on the prosecution,
investigation and resolution of sexual harassment cases in
the public sector;
The Manual on How to Handle Sexual Harassment Cases was
drafted to serve as a tool to aid the CODI as well as victims
of sexual harassment in understanding the issue of sexual
harassment and provide step-by-step procedures in handling
such cases;
An intensive information campaign was undertaken to
promote awareness of the Administrative Rules on Sexual
Harassment and a thorough understanding of the issue on
sexual harassment.
There are other laws passed which address womens career
concerns, to wit:
a) RA 8551, Reform and Reorganization of the Philippine
National Police (PNP) mandates that ten percent (10%) of
the police force should be women. However, the same law
has required a height requirement, which is 5 feet and 2
inches for women and 5 feet and 4 inches for men.
These height requirements have been found to be
discriminatory in the light of the average height of Filipinos
which is lower than what has been prescribed; and,
b) The Solo Parents Welfare Act of 2000 which basically
relieve solo parents of the burden and fear of responsibility
of raising a family alone by institutionalizing adequate state
assistance and relevant support services both for the solo
parents and their children.
2) Persons with Disabilities (PWDs)
Republic Act 7277 otherwise known as the Magna Carta for
Disabled Persons was passed in 1992. This law strongly

prohibits employment discrimination against a qualified

disabled person in regard to application, hiring, promotion,
compensation and other employment conditions.
The government guarantees that five (5%) percent of all
casual, emergency and contractual positions in the three (3)
departments, i.e., social welfare and development, health,
and education, and other government agencies engaged in
social development shall be reserved for disabled persons.
With this law, a National Council for the Welfare of Disabled
Persons (NCWDP) was established to formulate policies on
disability, to coordinate the functions of public and private
entities and international organizations operating in the
Philippines and to enforce laws on disability prevention,
rehabilitation and equalization of opportunities for persons
with disabilities.
The Magna Carta explicitly provides that no entity, whether
public or private, shall discriminate against a qualified
disabled person by reason of disability in regard to job
application procedures, the hiring, promotion, or discharge
of employees, employee compensation, job training, and
other terms,
conditions, and privileges of employment.
The law likewise prohibits the following acts of
discrimination:
(a) Limiting, segregating or classifying a disabled job
applicant;
(b) Using qualification standards or selection criteria that
tend to screen out a disabled person unless such standards
are shown to be job-related for the position in question;
(c) Utilizing standards, criteria, or methods of administration
that:
(1) have the effect of discrimination on the basis of disability,
or
(2) perpetuate the discrimination of others who are subject
to common administrative control;
(d) Providing less compensation or other forms of
remuneration and benefits to a qualified disabled employee,
by reason of his disability, than the amount to which a nondisabled person performing the same work is entitled;
(e) Favoring a non-disabled employee over a qualified
disabled employee with respect to promotion, training
opportunities, study and scholarship grants;
(f) Failing to select or administer in the most effective
manner employment tests which accurately reflect the skills,
aptitude or other factor of the disabled applicant; and,
(g) Excluding disabled persons from membership in labor
unions or similar organizations.
In 1990, the PCSC issued a memorandum circular(MC)
explicitly stating that disabled persons may apply and take
civil service examinations. The MC further clarified that a
healthy government workforce should not be interpreted to

disqualify or disenfranchise persons who are merely crippled,

deaf, mute or blind and those who only suffer partial physical
disabilities, which deformities do not render them incapable
and unable to perform the duties of certain positions in
government. The MC was reiterated in 1999 with a directive
to enjoin all government agencies to provide employment
opportunities to qualified persons with disabilities in all
government agencies.
In September 1999, a major initiative was the development
of a computer assisted test for visually impaired people
known as the CAT-VIP. This technology uses a special gadget
called a voice synthesizer and a screen access program that
enables the visually impaired to read the test questions
displayed on the screen. It converts machine-readable text
to audible speech. The time limit for the examination has
been extended from three (3) hours to four (4) hours for the
professional level and for the subprofessional level, from 2
1/2 hours to 3 1/2 hours.
Those who pass the examination shall be conferred an
eligibility which is an entrance requirement for all those
seeking permanent appointment in the government. The
PCSC has no statistics on the number of PWDs who took and
passed the examinations.
The PCSC, through an inventory in 2001, recorded a total of
1,444 PWDs employed in government, with the following
breakdown: National Agencies - 468; Government Owned
and Controlled Corporations 99; Local Government Units
857; and local water districts 20.
3) Indigenous Peoples and Ethnic Communities
Comprised of 110 ethnolinguistic groups, the indigenous
peoples constitute a significant segment of Philippine society.
These communities have been isolated and have fallen
behind the mainstream population in terms of socioeconomic
development. Cognizant of the need to speed up the
development of these communities and to hasten their
integration into society, the Philippine government enacted
several laws to protect their ancestral domain and promote
respect for their distinct way of life.
A landmark legislation for indigenous peoples was passed in
1997. Republic Act 8371, otherwise known as the Indigenous
Peoples Rights Act of 1997, is an act to recognize, protect
and promote the rights of indigenous cultural
communities/indigenous peoples. To oversee the strict
implementation of the law, the National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) was created to primarily protect
and promote the interest and well being of the indigenous
peoples with due regard to their beliefs, customs, traditions
and institutions.
As such, it shall serve as the primary government agency
responsible for the formulation and implementation of
pertinent and appropriate policies, plans and programs to
carry out the policies set forth in the new law.

Responsive to the intent of the law, the PCSC has issued a

circular to encourage appointment of natives or indigenous
people in a certain region, the Cordillera Administrative
Region (CAR), whose population is composed mostly of
ethnic groups and communities.
In the 60s and 70s, the PCSC conferred eligibilities to
members of the cultural communities through a testimonial
procedure. This process, however, was abused by some
individuals who made false claims of their membership in
certain cultural groups to secure civil service eligibilities. It
defeated the purpose of responding to the needs of the
members of cultural and ethnic groups. To end this practice,
the Commission conducted the Cultural Community
Examination (CCE) in 1989, a customized examination for 12
cultural and ethnic groups in the country that is more
responsive to the kind and level of education and the limited
development opportunities that they are exposed to.
The examination, however, was stopped for reasons which
were not very clear. It is said that it was stopped in view of
the low passing rate, i.e., out of the 18,031 examinees, only
1, 755 passed.
Another reason invoked the merit and fitness principle and
enjoined them to take the regular examinations. There may
be a need to take a deeper look into this and consider the
possibility of reviving the examination.
In the case of Muslims in the Autonomous Region of Muslim
Mindanao (ARMM), the PCSC statistics show that they have
performed poorly in the career examinations. In 2000 and
2001, passing rate ranged between .35% and 1.86%.
4) Employees in the Local Government Units (LGUs)
One major breakthrough affecting local government units
was the passage of the Local Government Code (LGC). This
law (RA 2171) sets the foundation for truly sustainable
development and self-reliant local government units. It has
also afforded autonomy to local government relative to its
personnel functions. Like any other head of office, a local
chief executive was accorded powers and/or rights on
personnel administration.
Among others, they include the right to appoint, promote
and to exercise such other personnel actions as
reassignment and detail which are generally considered as
management prerogatives. These powers also included the
right to discipline and to impose the corresponding penalties.
In the exercise of these powers, however, certain laws, rules
and regulations have to be observed.
Freed from an overly centralized government, the LGC
spurred major changes by devolving more powers and
resources to Local Government Units (LGUs) and allowing
peoples participation in local governance. The Code allowed
each LGU to grow in the direction it has determined for itself
and in accordance with its own capabilities.

A major plus-factor in work diversity is the imposition of the

residency requirement among appointive local officials in the
provincial, city andmunicipal levels, e.g., secretary, treasurer,
assessor, accountant, health officer, among others. Local
appointive officials are required to be a resident of the
locality for at least six (6) months immediately preceding
their appointment.
According to key informants from the Department of Interior
and Local Government, the residency requirement has many
benefits. Being a resident of the area, an appointee is
expected to be more accountable for his/her performance.
The appointee is relatively more committed and dedicated to
the job as he/she is more accustomed and acclimatized to
the work area. There is also the element of safe and secure
work environment.
On the downside, however, this requirement has been used
by many political leaders to push for or ensure appointment
of their proteges who barely meet the minimum
requirements when there may be better-qualified applicants
outside the community or locality.
For example, the Department of Finance is seeking the
amendment of the law to remove this requirement for
treasurers in the local government. It is argued that there is
a need to have a checkand-balance arrangement between
the mayor and the treasurer to ensure proper fiscal
management of the community resources
5) Public Sector Unions
Executive Order No. 180 restored the right of workers in the
public sector to self-organization. This right has been denied
public sector employees starting 1972 when martial law was
declared over the country. The directive provides that
government employees shall not be discriminated against in
respect to their employment by reason of their membership
in employees organizations or participation in the normal
activities of their organization. Their employment shall not
be subject to the condition that they shall not join or shall
relinquish their membership in the employees organizations.
At present, there are 1,645 public sector unions with
278,115 members from the total of about 1.4 million human
resource in government operating in various parts of the
country. One of the major concerns of unions is the
inadequate support and lack of appreciation of management
on the benefits of public sector unionism.
Despite the limited number of PSU members vis-vis the
total number of government employees, they have an active
role in pushing for the welfare of employees nationwide.
Among its various achievements are the installation of
women-friendly facilities, promotion of physical fitness, flexitime arrangement and setting up of grievance machineries.
The PCSC, as an advocate of employee empowerment in the
public sector has encouraged public sector unions to draw up
a Checklist of Reasonable Working Conditions to establish a
working environment which will promote harmonious

relationship between the management and the unions and to

contribute to the attainment of a responsible public service.
To oversee the management of personnel relations programs
particularly settlement of disputes between management and
unions, the Public Sector Labor Management Council
(PSLMC) was created. The PSLMC issued a recent policy
which provides the prerogative to the union in the use of the
50% of the total savings of an agency. These could be used
for the improvement of working conditions, employee
assistance, among others.
6) Elderly
The Philippines has a relatively young population. As of
2002, older persons represent 8.4 percent of our total
population. However, that number is growing at a faster rate
than in many other countries and is expected to increase to
18.1 percent of the total population, or exceed 11.1 million
by 2025.
Guided by the Philippine Constitution, laws that recognize
the positive role of older persons in our society have been
enacted, encouraging older persons to contribute to nationbuilding and to mobilize their families and the communities
they live with, to reaffirm the Filipino tradition of caring for
older persons.
These laws further granted benefits and special privileges to
older persons as well as created the office for senior citizens'
affairs nationwide. A republic act in 1995 established senior
citizens centers to serve as venues for the delivery of
integrated and comprehensive services to older persons. The
organizations of older persons manage these centers with
the support of the local and national governments.
Based on the Vienna Plan of Action on Ageing and the Macao
Plan of Action on Ageing for Asia and the Pacific, the
Philippines adopted the Philippine Plan of Action for Older
Persons in 1999. The plan of action addresses eight major
areas of concern: namely, older persons and the family;
social position of older persons; health and nutrition;
housing, transportation and environment; income security,
maintenance and employment; social services and the
community; continuing education/learning; and, older
persons and the market.
Strengths of the Philippines on the Issue of Diversity
As can be gleaned in the numerous policies for women,
persons with disabilities, indigenous peoples, PSU members,
LGU employees and the elderly there exists a strong legal
and policy framework for these groups. Their rights and
privileges have a strong foundation in the Constitution.
Moreover, as a signatory to the UN Convention on the
Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
The existing civil service examinations are all in the English
language. These tests have been developed by experts most
of whom are based in Metro Manila and schooled in the best

(CEDAW), the Philippines is committed to implement this as

well as other international agreements to improve the
situation of Filipino women
The government has not been remiss in setting up strong
institutional and support systems to look after the welfare of
each of these groups. There is the National Commission on
the Role of Filipino Women, the National Council for
Indigenous Peoples, the National Commission on the Welfare
of Disabled Persons, and the Public Sector Labor
Management Council. The PCSC, through its quasi-judicial
functions, has the power to act on complaints involving
discrimination and harassment. From 1995, the PCSC has
received thirty-eight (38) cases on sexual harassment which
has led to fifteen (15) dismissals, seven (7) suspensions and
two (2) acquittals.
The strong institutional and support system put in place is
further strengthened by the active involvement of nongovernment organizations (NGOs) and civil society
organizations (CSOs) in the country. There exists a workable
partnership between government agencies and NGOs/CSOs
in so far as the implementation and monitoring of programs
and policies are concerned. The NGOs and CSOs also serve
as vigilant watchdogs to ensure that such programs and
policies are properly implemented.
Continuing Challenges and Recommendations
1) There is need to intensify actions to help women break
the glass-ceiling and thus increase their level of participation
in the top level decision-making positions. Out of 5,000
positions in the third or executive/managerial level of the
bureaucracy, only 30% are women. Key initiatives will
include changing mindsets of appointing authorities and the
benefits of equal representation and participation of women
and men in decision-making and training programs and
leadership.
2) There is need to improve the career mobility of local
government employees into national career positions.
Oftentimes, they are stuck in their careers in the local
governments. There should be mechanisms to allow them to
obtain information and for them to be automatically
considered for vacancies in the national career positions.
Relatedly, there is a need to study their working conditions
vis--vis national government employees.
3) The PCSC needs to undertake policy study on addressing
the dilemma on ensuring a balance between the merit and
fitness principle in recruitment and the principle of equality.
There is need to assess whether the PCSC examination for
PWDs is really responsive, i.e., is the compensatory extra
hour for the examination adequate? In the case of the
indigenous peoples, similar concerns must be raised.
universities. There may be some insidious forms of
discrimination resulting from these situations.

4) There is need to improve the recency and regularity of

generating information regarding the five (5) sectors to allow
comparison over time and to determine if improvements
have been achieved. It may be noted that the PCSC does not
disaggregate information on the number of PWDs who have
passed the civil service eligibility examination as these
information are lumped into the overall results. There is need
to know the extent of representation of the PWDs and
indigenous peoples in the public sector workforce.
5) There is need to improve and strengthen the information,
education, communication and advocacy on the policies and
issues affecting the five (5) sectors. Critical to these
activities will be the participation and involvement of NGOs
and civil societies.
6) While there are enough laws in the Philippines addressing
diversity, most of which can even be considered advanced,
much still needs to be done in terms of ensuring the
effective implementation and enforcement of such laws.

The Philippine Policy-making Process

With the limited budgetary support from government, most

programs and policies for women, persons with disabilities
and the indigenous peoples, cannot be adequately
undertaken. For example, not all government entities are
able to establish day care centers because their budgets will
not allow them this expense.
7) In the course of gathering data for this paper, there was
difficulty in looking for papers, researches and books that
touched directly on diversity. Diversity, as a word, is
sparsely used. In its place, the terms indigenous, native,
disadvantaged, and marginalized were adopted. In most
resource materials that were found in libraries, the word
diversity is usually coined with bio to mean the variety of
plant and animal life in the Philippine ecosystem.
There may be a need to undertake advocacy, education and
communication activities to introduce the word, diversity to
build consensus, and reiterate its benefits and importance,
especially in a country with as diverse a culture and origin as
the Philippines.

The Philippine policy-making process is forged by the

following:
Bi-cameral legislative body, composed of the Senate and
the House of Representatives: the executive branch of
government, headed by the President of the Philippines
The judiciary headed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court. This has review over the decisions of the executive
and legislative branches, particularly on questions of
constitutionality and statutory construction.
The process follows the public policy models.
Various mechanisms are in place for public policy in every
branch of government:
1.

Cabinet

2.

The NEDA Board

3.

Special consultative bodies as the LEDAC

(Legislative-Executive Development Advisory
Council) for the Executive Branch

4.

The committees and the procedures for enacting

laws, for the legislature

5.

The various courts from the municipal, regional trial

courts to the Court of Appeals and the Supreme
Court

LGUs have their LCEs (governor/mayor) and his offices. The

legislative is in the sanggunians or Local Councils headed by
the vice-governor or vice-mayor.

The cabinet
All the heads of department and those occupying the rank of
secretary, in the executive branch
Headed by the president, who is the prime initiator and
implementer of policies and programs in the country.
Function is to orchestrate, with the guidance from the pres.,
all activities, proposals and policies of the government
The Executive Policy making mechanism through the
cabinet

The NEDA Board

Internal Structure of the LEDAC Secretariat

Like a mini cabinet Headed by the president,

Vice Chair is the Director General of the NEDA Secretariat
Members: Executive Secretary and Secretaries of the
following departments;
Finance, Trade and Industry, Agriculture, Environment ands
Natural Resources, Public Works, Budget, Labor, Local
Government, Agrarian Reform, Foreign Affairs and health
The Executive Policy making mechanism through NEDA
Board
Policy making process through the LEDAC

The LEDAC
A special consultative body which aims to provide advisory
and consultative mechanism to ensure consistency in
coordinating executive development planning and
congressional budgeting
Constituted in 1992 under RA 7640,, it also aims to provide
a mechanism for consensus building and serve as a
consultative and advisory body to the President
Composition
Chair: President
Vice Chair: Vice Pres.
Members:

Senate President,

Speaker of the House,

7 members of the cabinet designated by the pres,

3 members of the senate designated by the senate

pres (at least 1 from dominant minority party),

3 members of the house of rep designated by the

speaker of the house (at least 1 from dominant
minority party),

a representative from the LGU,

a representative pf the youth and

a representative from private sector or any

combination of the following: business, coop,
agriculture, labor