The government will now have a bigger and better pool of recruits to fill up its 177,874 vacant positions with the Civil Service Commission’s decision to hold online qualifying examinations.
Deputy Majority Leader and Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles said the holding of online government service examinations will result in more qualified individuals being able to take the tests as they no longer need to go out of their places of abode.
“I am happy that the CSC reconized the need to adjust according to the needs of the times. I am one with our countrymen who trust that there will still be civil service examinations in the last quarter of the year,” Nograles said.
CSC Commissioner Aileen Lizada announced that the commission’s examination, recruitment, and placement office had been tasked to come up with alternative ways to conduct the tests.
Nograles was among those who urged the CSC to conduct the examinations online to provide workers displaced by the COVID-19 pandemic with opportunities to fill vacancies in government.
Department of Budget and Management staffing summary records indicate that there are 177,874 vacant positions in government, both in civilian agencies and the uniformed services.
Nograles also thanked President Rodrigo Duterte for backing the online exams.
“Malacañang’s backing is crucial, because the President can direct the other agencies to devote time and resources to ensure the exams can be held hitch-free,” he said.
Nograles also urged other government agencies to shift their processes online.
“The times are calling for it. This is something we should have been doing already in the past that perhaps many of us have been viewing as ‘optional.’ That’s not the case these days. We cannot over-emphasize this—we must go online as soon as possible,” said the lawmaker.
The transition of government frontline services online could help make operations much more efficient, besides eliminating the need for people to have to physically go to offices, Nograles also said.
“Up to now, people are wary of going out. This fear should guide us towards improving our services by identifying which of our operations do not actually need to be done in person, and make the necessary changes,” he added.
The CSC earlier suspended the first of two pen-and-paper examinations held annually due to the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine.
The postponement affected more than 293,000 people in 66 locations nationwide who were supposed to take the exams in March.