Diversity Policies and Practices in the

Civil Service:
The Philippine Experience

Assistant Commissioner Mary Ann Z. Fernandez

Philippine Civil Service Commission

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The Philippines

„ a country of diverse culture, ethnicity, language

and racial origin (Chinese, Indian, American,
Asian, English, Spanish)

™ there are 8 major languages and more

than 100 sub-languages and
dialects
™ 7,000 islands reinforce this
diversity

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The paper aims to
Explain the policies, practices and
initiatives of the Philippine government to
address the issues of diversity in the
workplace
Y
Highlight some issues, SIT
E R
V
concerns and DI
recommendations

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Bigger issues of diversity that
should be recognized

worsening gap between the rich and the poor

30 families out of approximately 15 million
Filipino families own 90% of the national wealth
7 million Filipinos are working in 100 countries
all over the world
- remittance of about US$8 B is bigger than the
total exports of the country of about US$6 B
- women trapped in employment situations that are
difficult, abusive and unprotected
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 Personnel Administration
in the Philippines
Opportunities for government employment are open to all
provided they meet the qualification standards
For every position in government, minimum standards are
set pertaining to education, training, experience and
eligibility requirements
Scholarship program (foreign and
local) was established to
provide educational and
other learning opportunities
for various levels of personnel
Performance evaluation is
done every 6 months
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 General Policy and
Legal Framework
The Philippine Constitution states 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.”
For women, the State upholds the fundamental equality between
women and men before the law and recognizes the role of women
in nation-building
For disabled persons, the State guarantees the establishment of a
special agency for their rehabilitation, self-development and self-
reliance and their integration into the mainstream of society
For indigenous peoples, the State recognizes, respects and protects
their rights and ensures the preservation and development of
their cultures, traditions and institutions 6
 Laws and Policies on Diversity
Five (5) sectors covered:
1) Women
2) Persons with disabilities
3) Indigenous peoples and ethnic
communities
4) Employees in the local governments
5) Public sector unions
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 Women
The Philippines is internationally recognized for the
status accorded to Filipino women
Within the Asian region the Philippines is a forerunner
in pushing for gender equality and women
empowerment particularly in the workplace
More than twenty (20) various laws passed to
empower women
PCSC policies, programs and initiatives for women:
1) flexi-time work schedule
2) a more flexible and expanded maternity leave policy
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 Women
3) day care centers in all government agencies
4) affirmative policies e.g., for all vacant positions, there
should be men or women nominees; no pregnant
women shall be discriminated against on matters of
promotion, etc.
Committee on Decorum and Investigation (CODI) in
all government agencies to ensure proper investigation
of sexual harassment cases
Administrative Rules on Sexual Harassment Cases

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 Women

Manual on How to Handle Sexual Harassment Cases

Information campaign to promote awareness of
the Administrative Rules
LAWS
Women in Development
and Nation Building Act
10% of the police force
should be women
Solo Parents’ Welfare Act
of 2000 10
 Persons with Disabilities
Magna Carta for Disabled Persons guarantees that 5% of all casual,
emergency and contractual positions in the 3 departments: social
welfare and development, health and education. It strongly
prohibits:
employment discrimination against disabled persons in regard to
application, hiring, promotion, compensation and other
employment conditions
the following acts of discrimination:
- limiting, segregating or classifying a
disabled job applicant
- using qualification standards or
selection criteria that tend to screen
them out
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 Persons with Disabilities
Other acts of discrimination:
- Providing less compensation or other forms of remuneration and
benefits to a qualified disabled employee
- Favoring a non-disabled employee over a disabled employee with
respect to promotion, training opportunities, study and scholarship
grants
- Failing to select or administer in the most effective manner
employment tests which accurately reflect the skills, aptitude or
other factors of the disabled applicant
- excluding disabled persons from joining labor unions

A major PCSC initiative was the development of a computer-assisted

test for visually impaired people in 1999, (CAT VIP). 12
 Indigenous Peoples and
Ethnic Communities
In the 60’s and 70’s, 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 memberships in certain cultural groups)
The PCSC conducted the Cultural Communities Examination
(CCE) in 1989, a customized examination that is responsive to
cultural groups (this was again stopped in
view of the low passing rate and the need
to strictly observe the merit and
fitness principle)

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Employees in the
Local Government Units
Major breakthrough: Local
Government Code which gave
autonomy to LGUs
Residency requirements for
Local appointive officers, e.g.,
assessor, accountant, health
officer
Some concerns especially with
treasurers on need for check
and balance
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 Public Sector Unions
EO 180 provides that government employees shall not
be discriminated against in respect to their employment by
reason of their membership in employees organizations
Their employment is not subject to the condition that they shall
not join or shall relinquish their membership in organizations
At present, there are 1,645 PSUs with 278,115 members
from the total of 1.4 million government employees

One major concern is the inadequate support and lack of

appreciation of management on the benefits of unionism
The PSLMC issued a policy which provides the prerogative to
the union on the use of 50% of the total savings of an agency
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 Strengths of the Philippines
on the Issue of Diversity
Strong legal and policy framework

Strong institutional and

support systems e.g. PCSC
is independent and
has quasi-judicial functions

Active involvement of
NGOs and CSOs, e.g., a workable partnership insofar
as implementation & monitoring of programs and
policies are concerned 16
 Continuing Challenges
& Recommendations
1) Need to intensify actions to help women break the glass-ceiling
and increase level of participation in the top level decision-
making positions
2) Need to improve the career mobility of local government
employees into national career positions
3) Need to undertake policy study on addressing the dilemma on
ensuring a balance between the merit and fitness principle in
recruitment and the principle of equity
4) 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

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 Continuing Challenges
& Recommendations
5) Need to improve and strengthen the information,
education, communication and advocacy on the policies
and issues affecting the five (5) sectors
6) Need to ensure the effective implementation and
enforcement of the various laws of the Philippines on
diversity
7) Need to undertake advocacy, education and
communication activities to introduce the word
“diversity”; build consensus; and reiterate its benefits and
importance, especially in a country with as diverse a
culture and origin as the Philippines
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Thank You

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