Philippine pesos peso bills
Philippine peso bills being counted at a foreign exchange centre. File photo. Image Credit: Bloomberg
Also in this package

Manila: The are more than 200,000 jobs are available in government service at the moment, according to the Philippines’ Civil Service Commission (CSC).

The key: pass the Civil Service Exam (CSE) administered by the state commission. As of end-June, the government has more than 204,000 unoccupied "plantilla” positions, the CSC told local media on Friday (August 18).

Plantilla positions are job slots included in the Personal Services Itemisation (PSI) approved by the Philippines’ Department of Budget and Management (DBM). Those in permanent — or “plantilla” — regular positions, enjoy the security of tenure, health and retirement benefits, bonuses, as well as the prestige and honour of being recognised as a formal government worker.

Jobs for teachers, cops, court staff

The commission disclosed that leading the list of agencies with the highest number of available positions are the following:

  • Department of Education (DepEd): 35,000
  • The Supreme Court (SC) & courts: 10,000
  • Philippine National Police (PNP): 7,700
  • General Santos City: 2,000
  • Pasig City: 1,700
  • Lanao del Norte: 1,400

GOCC jobs

For government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), the most notable count of job positions open are found in:

  • Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas: 2,100
  • Philippine Postal Corporation: 1,500;
  • National Housing Authority: 1,300
1 million jobs created
The Philippine economy generated a total of 998,000 jobs from September 2022 to March 2023. The World Bank, however, reported that a huge portion of that is labelled as “low-quality jobs” — which usually means low and irregular pay.

Civil Service Exam

CSC is a constitutional body: its mandate is to institutionalise meritocracy and excellence in human resource management system in the government. This is to combat the “palakasan” — the use of influence to gain position, promotion and even filling the job vacancies of a specific instruction by an unqualified client.

The Civil Service Exam (CSE) is an essential qualification test for Filipinos aspiring to secure positions within the Philippine Government. Conducted biannually, this examination is overseen by the Civil Service Commission of the Philippines.

Takers

On average, 900,000 to 1,000,000 candidates apply every year and the number of candidates sitting in the preliminary examination is approximately 550,000, according to the CSC.

Exam subjects

The Philippine CSE encompasses mathematics, including algebra (calculators are not allowed during the exam), vocabulary (to test verbal ability and aptitude), English grammar (i.e. paragraph organisation, word analogy), logic, reading comprehension, number series and general information, as well as items in Filipino language.

Passing grade: 80% or higher

For those applying at the Professional Level, candidates are required to hold a four-year degree. Differing from the sub-professional level, the professional exam allows a lengthier time limit of three hours and 10 minutes for completion.

Achieving success on the CSE necessitates attaining a score of 80 per cent or higher. Based on historical pass rates, achieving this score in a single attempt is no simple feat. On average, merely 10 to 12 percent of examinees manage to hit 80 per cent or higher.

According to Trading Economics data, the Asian country posted a 4.5 per cent jobless rate as of end-July 2023 — equivalent to 48.06 million employed people and 2.26 million unemployed.

Online job fair

The CSC has scheduled an online job fair on September 18-22 in line with the 123rd Philippine Civil Service Anniversary celebration. To join job fair: http://bit.ly/3E6Plgg; To verify your Civil Service Exam result: bit.ly/3OCxgvH