A “merci-ful” bureaucracy is what newly installed chairman Ricardo Saludo wants to bring to the Civil Service Commission (CSC).
That’s MERCI with an I. I aim to build a civil service that will be full of M-E-R-C-I,” Saludo, who formally assumed the top CSC post last Friday, said.
The word represents the five core values that – according to Saludo – will determine the direction of the CSC under his leadership: morale, efficiency, responsiveness, courtesy, and integrity.
“From the private and the policemen guarding our peace, to the teacher and the doctor caring for our minds and bodies, plus countless other rank and file and officialdom, our nationwide corps of public servants shall, in the course of the coming six and a half years, become more MERCI-ful. That’s my goal,” Saludo said.
He replaced former chairperson Karina David who revealed that of the 3,500 career people that hold managerial positions in government, less than 50 percent have managerial eligibility.
Saludo said the government needs to raise the pay of state workers to boost their morale.
“A further motivation to excellence is the third phase of the Salary Standardization Law, which Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya aims to push through in the next session of Congress. SSL 3 will further narrow the gap between public and private sector compensation,” he said during the oath-taking ceremony last Friday.
The new CSC chief also said he would set up an endowment fund from both public and private resources to provide monetary support to families of state employees killed in the line of duty.
The financial support will be on top of their pension and insurance benefits, Saludo said.
“To get the fund started, I am pledging a start-up donation of P100,000. I invite others to also give for the families of those men and women in government who gave their last breath for country, duty, and service,” he said.
To address the issues raised by his predecessor, Saludo said he will suggest to the Career Executive Service Board that every time an executive position opens up, the names and qualifications of the most qualified personnel with career executive eligibility should be published online.
“We respect the prerogative of appointing authorities under the law; let it (appointments system) now be exercised in full view of the nation,” he said.
He said he would also push for more performance-enhancing education for state workers to achieve efficiency in civil service.