Marcos revokes policy granting CES rank to NDCP grads

MANILA, Philippines — President Marcos has revoked the policy granting career executive service (CES) rank to graduates of the National Defense College of the Philippines (NDCP), months after it was suspended to determine if its goals are in line with existing rules.

The policy conferring CES eligibility and rank to graduates of the NDCP’s Master in National Security Administration (MNSA) program was scrapped through Executive Order (EO) 63, signed by Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin by the authority of Marcos last July 2.

The order adopted the recommendation of the Career Executive Service Board (CESB), which had suggested that the policy be revoked “to synchronize the standards and procedures for the conferment of CES rank.”

“There is a need to reevaluate the foregoing policy of granting CES rank to graduates of the MNSA program of the NDCP, in order to ensure that its objectives are consistent with existing laws, rules and regulations,” the memorandum said.

It also repealed the provisions of EO 145, which provided that graduates of the MNSA program appointed to CES positions should be granted the career executive service officer rank that is commensurate to their respective posts, subject to the requirements to be prescribed and mandated by the CESB.

Former president Rodrigo Duterte signed EO 145 in 2021 “to deepen the pool of leader-managers in government and further strengthen the quality of policy formation and governance in the public sector.”

Last October, Malacañang imposed a moratorium on the grant of CES rank to NDCP graduates, citing the need to ensure that the objectives of the MNSA are consistent with existing laws and regulations. The moratorium was contained in Memorandum Circular 35 issued on Oct. 2, 2023.

The memorandum noted that under the Constitution, appointments in the civil service should be made only according to merit and fitness to be determined, as far as practicable, by competitive examination.

The provision does not cover posts that are policy-determining, primarily confidential or highly technical, the issuance added.

The memorandum also cited the Administrative Code of 1987 which states that the entrance to the third-level career executive service shall be prescribed by the CESB.

The CESB, in coordination with concerned state agencies, shall craft and issue guidelines to implement the order if necessary.