Saturday, January 26, 2008 Roperos: Competent officials By Godofredo M. Roperos Politics Also
WITHDRAWAL of appointments of government officials to career positions in the civil service would be the best thing President Arroyo can do if she should be true to her vow to make government operation efficient and effective during the remaining years of her administration.
As it is, no matter how much she would push operation of her administration to its highest performance level, if the “executives” she hired are unqualified and incompetent, she would be wasting public funds.
The accusation of outgoing Civil Service Commission Chairman Katrina David that 50 percent of the 3,500 presidential appointees “occupying executive or managerial positions have no civil service eligibility” needs serious consideration to ascertain its veracity.
If at least 1,750 government executives occupying career executive service positions are not qualified as averred by David, then they are decidedly incompetents. It means they have not gone through managerial and executive training that makes them eligible career executive service officers (Ceso).
Professional careerism in public service was initiated by Dr. Onofre D. Corpus, a University of the Philippines professor who became department of education secretary in the early ‘70s.
It was when he was education secretary that the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP) was organized and the career executive service training program for government executives was started in early 1974. The first ceso program called for three months internship at the DAP in Tagaytay City.
After that, trainees came up with re-entry plans in their areas of assignment.
It meant that as executives they would plan programs they would undertake as managers in keeping with their agencies’ goal or mission. The activities are monitored and their performance “audited.”
A Ceso, like a career military officer or a government diplomat, takes on a rank based on his initial position in government after the training, and then appointed to a position. Regardless of what position a Ceso is appointed to, he carries the salary scale of the rank he has been assigned to.
Even if his position is staff officer of a department secretary but the equivalent of his rank is undersecretary, then he receives the salary scale of undersecretary. He becomes an all around executive officer who performs with competence and excellence whatever task he is asked to perform.
This is the kind of appointee Ms. David must feel should be appointed by GMA.
