CSC celebrates Women’s Month 2014

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) took part again in the observance of the National Women’s Month themed “Juana, ang Tatag Mo ay Tatag Natin sa Pagbangon at Pagsulong!” As the nation’s premier human resource agency, CSC has been actively participating in policy making and various advocacy initiatives to promote women’s rights.

CSC GADvocates celebrate International Women’s Day on March 8 at the Quirino Grandstand, Luneta Park, Manila.

Addressing officials and employees during the kick-off ceremony at the beginning of the month, CSC Chairman Francisco T. Duque III cited the importance of the role of men and women in upholding gender equity. “It is a call to recognize equity and fairness in a world where discrimination and violence thrive. While we emphasize women’s role in nation building, we also call on the men to be fellow advocates for the cause of gender equity,” Chairman Duque said.

Ten thousand participants from women’s groups, delegation from national and local government, academic institutions, and civil society organizations try to set a Guinness World Record of the most participated woman symbol formation during the kick-off activity of the 2014 Women’s Month celebration.

Countries around the world held relevant activities in celebration of the International Women’s Day on March 8. The CSC also joined the Philippine Commission on Women (PCW) as it led the nation’s kick-off event, “The Women’s Human Symbol Forming,” held at the Quirino Grandstand with over 10,000 participants. The event attempted to set a world record of the world’s most participated women symbol forming event. CSC Gender and Development Advocates or GADvocates participated in the said event.

CSC also continues to ensure awareness of gender issues and concerns among its employees. A focus group discussion on gender mainstreaming in human resource management was held March 21 at the CSC Central Office. It aims to incorporate gender dimensions into the various HR initiatives of the Commission. The CSC also chairs the technical working group on Women and Leadership for the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA) and participated in the recent meeting led by PCW to prepare the Philippine status report to the United Nations. This forms part of the CSC’s commitment to ensure 50-50 gender representation in managerial positions in government, as enshrined in Republic Act No. 9710 or the Magna Carta of Women.

On March 31, CSC will cap Women’s Month activities with the annual Piknik sa Kalikasan. The picnic brings together men and women of CSC to remind them of the CSC’s continuing commitment to Gender and Development (GAD). This year’s picnic will also serve as a venue to launch the new guidelines of the Gawad Kawayan, a recognition program for GAD champions in the CSC.n

CSC invites HR managers to attend the 2014 HR Symposium

Over a thousand human resource practitioners from the public and private sectors are expected to join 2014 Human Resource (HR) Symposium slated on April 24-25, 2014 in Cebu.  This year’s theme, “Gearing Towards ASEAN Integration through Strategic HR”, underscores preparations in the field of human resources for the 2015 ASEAN integration.

Local and international speakers will discuss best practices and initiatives on strategic HR.  Among the topics are Strategic HR Paradigm, Meeting Mission-Critical Competencies, Attracting and Retaining Talents, Coaching, Human Capital, Personal Effectiveness through Neuro-linguistic Programming, Knowledge Management, Employee Management, Global Standards in HRM, Cutting Edge Public Service Excellence, and Leadership in Challenging Times.

Registration fee is PHP7,000.00, inclusive of a guidebook, training kits, meals, and Certificate of Participation for sixteen (16) hours of managerial training.  For more details, please log on to csc.gov.ph or contact the CSC Regional or Field Office nearest you.n

Model employees could be next Presidential awardees

The Civil Service Commission (CSC) encourages agency heads to forward their PRAISE (Program on Awards and Incentives for Service Excellence) awardees as nominees to the 2014 Search for Outstanding Public Officials and Employees.

Deadline of nominations to the 2014 Search is on March 31.

The local rewards mechanism of government departments or agencies dubbed as PRAISE recognizes an employee’s outstanding work performance in his/her agency or his/her idea or invention that improved government operations.

Over the years, agencies have been CSC’s partners in searching for public service exemplars as they are responsible for nurturing the culture of ethics and excellence among their employees. The Commission sees the agencies’ pool of PRAISE awardees as a potential source of nominees to the Search.

The Search for Outstanding Public Officials and Employees forms part of CSC’s Honor Awards Program (HAP). There are three award categories.

The Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award is conferred to an individual or group for exceptional or extraordinary contributions that had nationwide impact.

The Outstanding Public Officials and Employees or the Dangal ng Bayan Award is conferred to an individual for performance of extraordinary act or public service and consistent demonstration of exemplary ethical behavior on the basis of his/her adherence to the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.

The Civil Service Commission Pagasa Award is given to an individual or group of individuals for outstanding contributions that directly benefit more than one department of the government.

For more inquiries, contact the Honor Awards Program (HAP) Secretariat at telephone numbers (02) 931-7993, (02) 932-0381, (02) 932-0111, text 0917-TEXTCSC (8398272), or email hapsecretariat@yahoo.com.n

CSC News Release
March 17, 2014

Nominate an Outstanding Public Servant!

View Search guidelines here.

 

Evidence-based anti-red tape survey results bring ‘good news’

Photo taken from the Internet – http://www.examiner.com.

“Good news,” says Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairman Francisco T. Duque III of the results of the 2013 Anti-Red Tape Act (ARTA) Report Card Survey (RCS) which was released last month.

Majority of the service offices surveyed passed, with 18 percent of the total 929 offices surveyed getting an Excellent rating and only 67 service offices or 7 percent failed.

Five hundred fifty seven or 60 percent rated Good; and the remaining 101 offices or 11 percent, Acceptable.

“We have seen a significant improvement in the passers,” said Chairman Duque.

Duque also believes that the significant improvement could mean that agencies now see that the provisions of the ARTA are for the improvement of their frontline services.

In addition to this, with the random spot checks, dubbed ARTA Watch, which the CSC conducts from time to time, as well as the annual Report Card Survey, agencies are on high alert as the CSC strictly implements the Anti-Red Tape Act.

The evaluation of frontline services of government offices is done through the RCS, a component of Republic Act No. 9485, also known as the Anti-Red Tape Act of 2007, to obtain evidence-based feedback on existence and effectiveness, as well as compliance with the agency Citizen’s Charter.

The Charter contains the types of frontline services a government agency offers with the step-by-step procedure, the person responsible for each step, time needed to transact, documents required, and fees. It is posted in conspicuous areas to make government transaction easier and transparent to the public.

“The ARTA RCS is not a perceptions survey. The survey is conducted face to face with clients who have just availed of any frontline service of the office being inspected,” explains Chairman Duque.

A service office fails the RCS when it incurs a final score that is below 70, or if it fails in one of the two core areas of ARTA.

Core 1 or compliance with ARTA provisions checks if the frontline office has a Citizen’s Charter visible to transacting clients and an anti-fixing campaign, if frontline staff wear identification cards, if there are no hidden transaction costs, if there is a manned Public Assistance and Complaints Desk, and if the frontline unit observes the No Noon Break policy.

Core 2 or overall client satisfaction checks the frontline service provider, service quality, physical setup, basic facilities, and respondent-client satisfaction.

Offices which obtained a score of 90 to 100 are rated Excellent; 80 to 89.99 Good; 70-79.99 Acceptable.

Service offices that failed the RCS will undergo the Service Delivery Excellence Program (SDEP), to be conducted by the Civil Service Commission, to determine and address problem areas in frontline service delivery.

“As the bureaucracy’s human resource institution, the CSC takes a developmental stance in implementing the ARTA. More than informing the public which offices passed or failed the annual ARTA Report Card Survey, the Commission provides various HR and organization development training programs that will aid government agencies to improve their service delivery,” said Chairman Duque.n

CSC News Release
March 12, 2014