Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _________ 
Introduced by Representative Paolo Henry M. Marcoleta 
EXPLANATORY NOTE 
The Civil Service Act of 1959 or Republic Act (RA) No. 2260 was 
enacted to ensure that appointment in public service must be based only 
according to merit and fitness in order to provide a progressive system of 
personnel administration to insure the maintenance of an honest, efficient, 
progressive and courteous civil service in the Philippines.1  
To uphold this principle, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) conducts 
the Career Service Exam (CSE), which is a biannual test to assess and identify 
those qualified to work in public service. Passing this exam means that one can 
apply for permanent jobs in the government and be entitled to a number of 
benefits such as competitive salaries, career growth, and insurance among many 
others. The CSE has two levels of tests: Sub-professional and Professional. The 
Sub-professional CSE are for high school graduates, or those who finished a 
course that is less than four years. Sub-professional civil service eligibility is 
required for jobs such as clerical, trades, crafts, and custodial work in public 
offices. While the professional CSE will qualify one to apply for first-level and 
second-level government positions like professional, scientific, managerial, 
technical, and higher posts of clerical jobs in public offices.2 
Throughout the years, the CSE has consistently recorded a very low 
passing rate. For 2025, only 42,472 or 14.79% passed the professional level 
exam while 3,998 or 14.79% out of 31,727 passed the sub professional level 
exam.3 For 2024, only 47,449 individuals (14.45%) out of the nearly 300,000 
1 Republic Act No. 2260 (1959), sec. 2. 
2 Pancho Parian, Why Take the Civil Service Exam?, MANILA BULLETIN, February 14, 2023, available at 
https://mb.com.ph/2023/2/14/why-take-the-civil-service-exam (last accessed on July 07, 2025). 
3 Editorial: Another Indicator of Learning Crisis, PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, May 18, 2025, available at 
https://opinion.inquirer.net/183299/another-indicator-of-learning-crisis# (last accessed on July 07, 2025). 
August 5, 2025
11:54 am
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takers for the professional level made it. This was lower than the 18.7% passing 
rate recorded by the CSC out of 345,194 takers in 2023. While for the 
subprofessional level, only 14.2% or 4,637 passers out of 32,707 examinees 
successfully passed. Even before the global COVID-19 pandemic, specifically 
between 2008 and 2019, the CSE passing rate hovered at only 9 to 13%.4 These 
numbers show how difficult it is to pass the CSE, in fact, it is comparable to an 
extended college entrance exam or general education test covering a variety of 
subjects, including current events, grammar and communication, numerical 
ability, reading comprehension, and general information.  
The dismal results of the CSE tend to greatly affect hopeful government 
employees, who have been in service for years, especially those employed under 
Contract-of-service (COS) or Job Order (JO). These people are the ones really 
doing the legwork on a daily basis, some even performing the functions of 
regular employees, yet lack the usual benefits and the chance for security of 
tenure because they repeatedly fail the required CSE. 
It is worth noting that there are cases when the CSC grants civil service 
eligibility to certain individuals without the need of passing the CSE, namely: 
•
Bar/Board Eligibility (RA 1080)
•
Barangay Health Worker Eligibility (RA 7883)
•
Barangay Nutrition Scholar Eligibility (Presidential Decree [PD]
No. 1569)
•
Barangay Official Eligibility (RA 7160)
•
Employees Appointed Under Provisional or Temporary Status
Who Have Rendered a Total of Seven (7) Years of Efficient Service
(RA 6850)
•
Electronic Data Processing Specialist Eligibility (Civil Service
Commission Resolution [CSC Res.] No. 90-083)
•
Foreign School Honor Graduate Eligibility (CSC Res. 1302714)
•
Honor Graduate Eligibility (PD 907)
•
Sanggunian Member Eligibility (RA 10156)
•
Scientific and Technological Specialist Eligibility (PD 997)
•
Skills Eligibility - Category II (CSC Memorandum Circular [MC]
No. 11, s. 1996, as amended)
•
Veteran Preference Rating (Executive Order Nos. 132 and 790)
4Kathleen de Villa, CSC: Civil Service Exam Passers Dip to 14 Percent, PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, 
October 16, 2024, available at https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/1992956/csc-civil-service-exam-passers-dip-to-14-
percent# (last accessed on July 07, 2025). 


•
Career Service Eligibility - Preference Rating (CSE-PR)5
Under CSC Res. 2301123, dated 07 December 2023, or the Grant of 
Career CSE-PR, special eligibility shall be granted to workers who have served 
for at least 10 years, have demonstrated valuable skills and very satisfactory 
performance ratings, but have failed to pass previous CSE beginning with the 
03 March 2024 CSE and thereafter. It covers workers collectively called the 
JOCOSC6 working in the government service which includes: JO, COS, casual, 
contractual, coterminous, employees holding Category III and Category IV 
positions as enumerated in CSC MC No. 10 dated 16 April 2013, and career 
service employees with first-level eligibility.6 
On 15 August 2024, the Department of Budget and Management called 
on all government agencies to absorb COS and JO workers and help them 
qualify for the vacant plantilla or permanent positions in their respective offices, 
citing 8% of plantilla positions in the national government as unfilled.7 
This proposed measure seeks to support that effort by intending to 
formally grant special eligibility to qualified long service COS and JO workers. 
The bill aims to promote the welfare of these employees who have rendered 
great amount of time and valuable service for the government yet failed to pass 
the required CSE. It is our responsibility as legislators to provide hope to those 
who have already given so much to the government, give them the opportunity 
to secure regular work opportunities in the future, and to provide them with a 
path to stable, dignified employment.  
In addition, this measure shall provide special eligibility to qualified COS 
and JO workers who have been working in the government for at least ten (10) 
years, either through third-party service contracting agreements or direct hire, 
and have obtained a very satisfactory rating in their performance review. This is 
to provide such hard working and dedicated employees the chance to apply for 
5Civil Service Commission, Special Eligibilities, May 24, 2021, available at https://csc.gov.ph/special-
eligibilities#:~:text=The%20career%20service%20examination%20is,Preference%20Rating%20(CSE-PR) (last 
accessed on July 07, 2025). 
6 Ellalyn De Vera-Ruiz, CSC vows support for job order, contract of service gov't workers to obtain career service 
eligibility, MANILA BULLETIN, May 03, 2024, available at https://mb.com.ph/2024/5/3/csc-vows-support-for-
job-order-contract-of-service-gov-t-workers-to-obtain-career-service-eligibility (last accessed on July 07, 2025). 
7Darryl John Esguerra, DBM to Gov’t Agencies: Absorb COS, JO Employees, PHILIPPINE NEWS AGENCY, 
April 15, 2024, available at 
https://www.pna.gov.ph/articles/1231235#:~:text=Among%20the%20strategies%20being%20considered%20is
%20to,applying%20for%20permanent%20positions%20in%20the%20government (last accessed on July 07, 
2025). 


competitive or classified service positions and accord to them the benefits that 
have been long deprived from them. 
In view of the foregoing, the immediate approval of this measure is 
earnestly sought. 
PAOLO HENRY M. MARCOLETA 
Representative, SAGIP Party-List


Republic of the Philippines 
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
Quezon City 
TWENTIETH CONGRESS 
First Regular Session 
HOUSE BILL NO. _________ 
Introduced by Representative Paolo Henry M. Marcoleta 
AN ACT 
GRANTING 
SPECIAL 
CIVIL 
SERVICE 
ELIGIBILITIES 
TO 
QUALIFIED INDIVIDUALS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE 
SECTION 23 OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 2260, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS 
THE CIVIL SERVICE ACT OF 1959 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in 
Congress assembled: 
Section 1. Short Title. – This Act shall be known as the “Civil Service 
1 
Special Eligibility Act”. 
2 
3 
Sec. 2. Section 23 of Republic Act No. 2260 is hereby amended to read as 
4 
follows: 
5 
6 
 
“Sec. 23. Recruitment and Selection of Employees. – Opportunity 
7 
for government employment shall be open to all qualified citizens 
8 
and positive efforts shall be exerted to attract the best qualified to enter 
9 
the service. 
10 
11 
 
Employees shall be selected on the basis of their fitness to perform 
12 
the duties and assume the responsibilities of the positions whether in 
13 
the competitive or classified or in the non-competitive or unclassified 
14 
service. 
15 
xxx 
16 
17 
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Qualification in an appropriate examination shall be required 
1 
for appointment to positions in the competitive or classified service 
2 
in accordance with the civil service rules except [as otherwise 
3 
provided for in this Act]:  
4 
 
5 
1. THOSE 
PERSONS 
GRANTED 
CIVIL 
SERVICE 
6 
ELIGIBILITY BY VIRTUE OF A SPECIAL LAW; 
7 
  
8 
2. THOSE 
PERSONS 
GRANTED 
CIVIL 
SERVICE 
9 
ELIGIBILITY BY VIRTUE OF A PRESIDENTIAL 
10 
DECREE OR EXECUTIVE ORDER; AND 
11 
 
12 
3. EMPLOYEES HIRED UNDER JOB ORDER, CONTRACT 
13 
OF 
SERVICE, 
CASUAL, 
CONTRACTUAL, 
14 
COTERMINOUS, EMPLOYEES HOLDING CATEGORY 
15 
III AND CATEGORY IV POSITIONS, WHO HAVE 
16 
RENDERED AT LEAST 10 YEARS IN GOVERNMENT 
17 
SERVICE, TO INCLUDE THOSE HIRED UNDER THIRD-
18 
PARTY SERVICE CONTRACTING AGREEMENTS, AND 
19 
OBTAINED AT LEAST A VERY SATISFACTORY 
20 
PERFORMANCE RATING OR ITS EQUIVALENT 
21 
DURING THE LAST TWO (2) RATING PERIOD. 
22 
 
23 
 
Provided, That whenever there is a civil service eligible 
24 
available for appointment, no person who is not such an eligible shall 
25 
be appointed even in a temporary capacity to any vacant position in 
26 
the competitive or classified service in the government or in any 
27 
government-owned or controlled corporation: [Provided, further, 
28 
That non-eligible employees who, upon the approval of this Act, 
29 
have rendered five years or more of continues and satisfactory 
30 
service in classified positions and who meet the other 
31 
qualifications for appointments to their positions, shall, within one 
32 
year from the approval of this Act, be given qualifying 
33 
examinations in which their length of satisfactory service shall be 
34 
accorded preferred consideration: Provided, further, That those 
35 
who fail in those examinations as well as those who fail or refuse to 
36 


 
take the examinations when offered shall be replaced by eligibles:] 
1 
And provided, finally, That for the period of ten years from the 
2 
approval of this Act and in line with the policy of Congress to 
3 
accelerate the integration of the cultural minorities, whenever the 
4 
appointment of persons belonging to said cultural minorities is called 
5 
for in the interest of the service as determined by the appointing 
6 
authority, with the concurrence of the Commissioner of Civil Service, 
7 
the examination requirements provided in this Act, [when not 
8 
practicable,] may be dispensed with in appointments within their 
9 
respective provinces if such persons meet the educational and other 
10 
qualifications required for the office or employment. For appointment 
11 
to positions in the noncompetitive or unclassified service, qualification 
12 
in an appropriate examination may be required if the appointing official 
13 
so directs.” 
14 
 xxx 
15 
 
16 
 
Sec. 3. Implementing Rules and Regulations. – Within ninety (90) days 
17 
from the effectivity of this Act, the Civil Service Commission, in coordination 
18 
with the Department of Budget and Management, shall promulgate the rules and 
19 
regulations to effectively implement the provisions of this Act. Provided further, 
20 
that affected employees shall not be subject to any form of discrimination, 
21 
unwarranted suspension, termination, or any form of dismissal that will 
22 
circumvent the purpose of this Act. 
23 
 
24 
 
Sec. 4. Separability Clause. – If any provision or part of this Act is declared 
25 
invalid or unconstitutional, the remainder thereof not otherwise affected shall 
26 
remain in full force and effect. 
27 
 
28 
 
Sec. 5 Repealing Clause. – All laws, presidential decrees, executive orders, 
29 
letters of instructions, proclamations or administrative regulations that are 
30 
inconsistent with the provisions of this Act are hereby repealed, amended, or 
31 
modified accordingly. 
32 
 
33 
 
Sec. 6. Effectivity. – This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days following 
34 
its publication in the Official Gazette or in a newspaper of general circulation 
35 
 
36 
 
Approved,  
37