Top graduates may apply for civil service eligibility

MANILA, Philippines — If you just graduated from college with honors, you may now apply for civil service eligibility that will allow you to work in government without having to take examinations. 

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) announced yesterday that graduates with summa cum laude, magna cum laude or cum laude honors or their equivalent may apply for honor graduate eligibility with the agency.

Such eligibility is applicable to graduates of private higher education institutions in the Philippines from school year 1972 to 1973 and thereafter, with baccalaureate and/or bachelor’s degree recognized by the Commission on Higher Education.

The honor graduate eligibility is also for honor graduates of state and/or local colleges or universities with baccalaureate and/or bachelor’s degree included in its charter, or baccalaureate and/or bachelor’s degree duly approved by its Board of Trustees or Board of Regents.

Honor graduates from a reputable foreign school, as verified by the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) through the Philippine Foreign Service Posts, may also apply for the foreign school honor graduate eligibility, provided that they are Filipino citizens.

The CSC said the honor graduate eligibility and foreign school honor graduate eligibility are both second level eligibilities considered appropriate for first and second level positions in government that do not involve the practice of profession and are not covered by bar, board and other laws.

The CSC said it grants the honor graduate eligibility to qualified individuals pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 907, issued on March 11, 1976, which mandates the grant of civil service eligibility to college honor graduates in the hope that “immediate absorption of these honor graduates in the public service will assure their participation in public affairs and bouy up the quality of the civil service.”

In line with PD 907, it also issued CSC Resolution No. 1302714 on Dec. 17, 2013 to include honor graduates from foreign schools in the grant of eligibility.

The CSC said applications for honor graduate eligibility may be submitted to the CSC regional office covering the area where the applicant finished his or her degree, or to any of the CSC regional office’s field offices, while applications for foreign school honor graduate eligibility may be submitted to the nearest CSC regional or field office where the applicant is currently based. 

Records show that in 2018, the CSC conferred a total of 12,557 honor graduate eligibilities and only one foreign school honor graduate eligibility.

New passers

As this developed, the CSC announced that 27,944 examinees passed the professional and sub-professional level civil service examinations it administrated last March 17.

The figure represents 10.57 percent of the 264,473 individuals who took the Career Service Examination, Pen and Paper Tests.

Donna Rizalyn Leus from Southern Tagalog led the 24,304 new professional eligibles as she garnered a rating of 87.03 percent. 

In second spot is Daniel Geslani from National Capital Region (NCR), with 86.94 percent while Glaiza Escamos from Western Visayas came in third with an 86.89 percent rating. 

On the other hand, leading the 3,640 new sub-professional eligibles is Christiani Matugas from NCR with a rating of 94.37 percent, followed by Aaron Dave Marte from Southern Tagalog with 92.62 percent. Mary Anne Tablate, also from NCR, ranked third with a rating of 92.11 percent.

The CSC said the new sub-professional eligibles are qualified to enter the first level of government service, while the professional eligibles may join the first and second levels. 

The first level, the CSC elaborated, includes clerical, trades, crafts and custodial service positions that involve non-professional or sub-professional work requiring less than four years of college studies. 

In contrast, the second level covers professional, technical and scientific positions up to division chief level that involve professional, technical or scientific work requiring at least four years of college studies.

The CSC, however, clarified that possessing a professional or a sub-professional eligibility is one of the requirements to be able to join the government, noting that a civil service eligible must also meet the education, experience, training and competency requirements for permanent appointment to a government career service position.