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Friday, March 29, 2024

Civil Service chief Dela Rosa-Bala ends fixed term

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Alicia dela Rosa-Bala will end her fixed term Wednesday as head of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), the central human resource (HR) agency of the Philippine government.

Bala was appointed by the late President Benigno Aquino III in October 2015, with expertise and years of experience in social work.

She introduced policies and programs that empowered and uplifted civil servants, promoted social change and development, and spread bringing malasakit (concern) to public sector HR management.

Under her helm, the CSC promulgated guidelines to institutionalize occupational safety and health and mental health programs in the public sector.

It also issued rules on mandatory random drug testing among civil servants in support of the government’s anti-drug campaign.

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Also issued were guidelines on the administration of the Career Service Examination-Pen and Paper Test to persons with disabilities, pregnant, and senior citizens, as well as to female examinees wearing Muslim covering/clothing to make the test procedures more inclusive.

She also led the Commission in releasing implementing rules and regulations for the grant of 105-day expanded maternity leave to female workers, in partnership with the Department of Labor and Employment), as well as the 60-day adoption leave for qualified parents.

In the last two years, the CSC issued interim guidelines to promote civil servants’ welfare and ensure continued public services amid the global Covid-19 pandemic.

The policies offered agencies the option to adopt alternative work arrangements, and civil servants to avail themselves of excused absence with pay for not being able to report for work due to quarantine, isolation, and/or treatment, adverse events following immunization, and community quarantine restrictions, among others.

Two landmark civil service policies were likewise issued in 2017 — Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service (RACCS) and the Omnibus Rules on Appointments and Other Human Resource Actions in the Civil Service (ORAOHRA).

RACCS is for the disposition of administrative disciplinary and non-disciplinary cases and the ORAOHRA enforces the merit system in
the civil service through rules on appointments and other HR actions.

During her term, the CSC began conducting an annual job fair in 2018 to help bridge hiring agencies and unemployed Filipinos and partnered with BDO Foundation Inc. and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas to establish the Financial Education Program for Civil Servants.

The CSC has been accredited by the Investors in People (IiP), an international organization that assesses organizations for people
management practices, achieving the Silver Level under a more rigorous Generation 6 standard.

It ranked sixth out of 530 IiP organizations globally in the size range of 250 to 4999 employees, and first among public sector organizations.

It was also a finalist in the Excellence in Social Responsibility Category in the IiP Awards.

The Commission’s entry was shortlisted among 300 entries from 20 countries, all of which were recognized in an awards ceremony held in
June 2016 in London.

As CSC chief, she was also Career Executive Service Governing Board Chairperson since October 2015; Chairperson of the Scientific Career Council, National Academy for Science and Technology, Department of Science and Technology since Sept. 7, 2016; Development Academy of the Philippines Board of Trustees Chairperson since June 27, 2018; Eastern Regional Organization for Public Administration (EROPA) Executive Council Chairperson from Jan. 1, 2020 to Dec. 31 2021; and the president of the EROPA 27th and 28th General Assembly from Sept. 23, 2019 to Aug. 3 2021 and Aug. 4, 2021, until the end of her CSC term, respectively.

It was also during her term that the first Asean Document on Civil Service Matters was signed by the Heads of States of the 10 member states, the Asean Declaration on the Role of the Civil Service as a Catalyst for Achieving the Asean Community Vision 2025.

Prior to her appointment to the CSC, she served in the Department of Social Welfare and Development for 39 years, specifically as
undersecretary from 2005 to 2015, and as deputy secretary-general for the Asean Socio-Cultural Community based in Jakarta, Indonesia from Sept. 8, 2012 to Sept. 7, 2015.

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