We refer to Mr. Florencio Fianza’s column (Duty Calls) published Jan. 16, in the Manila Standard, entitled “War on CSC,” which stated, among other things, that the two associate commissioners who were appointed by the current administration are engaged in an asymmetric war with the chairperson of the commission who was appointed by the last administration.”
May we be allowed to raise the following points:
1. The undersigned, who was appointed by President Duterte, strongly denies that he is engaged in “an asymmetric war” with the Chairperson.
2. The Commission en banc is composed of the Chairperson and two Commissioners, and not associate commissioners.
3. The CSC is no longer the principal watchdog in the implementation of the Anti-Red Tape Act. The passage of Republic Act No. 11032 or the Ease of Doing Business and Efficient Government Service Delivery Act of 2018 has shifted the primary responsibility of implementing and overseeing a national policy on anti-red tape and ease of doing business to the Anti-Red Tape Authority.
4. The statement that the Commission en banc “xxx has apparently not met in months x x x” is incorrect as the Commission had Commission Meetings, the most recent of which was last January 8, 2020.
5. There is malice to the imputation that the chairman secured her appointment as a political reward from the past administration for having managed the 4Ps because this is not possible considering that immediately prior to her appointment as such, she had been serving as Deputy Secretary General of the ASEAN Secretariat in Jakarta, Indonesia for three years.
Finally, the Commission remains committed to pursue the CSC mandate of building and maintaining a responsive, competent and efficient government workforce for the Filipino, devoid of political color and prioritized over personal interests.
LEOPOLDO ROBERTO W. VALDEROSA, JR.
Commissioner
Civil Service Commission
