Honor graduates urged to apply for eligibility

• Source: http://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1007955
• Tuesday, May 15, 2018

(CSC)

QUEZON CITY -- The Civil Service Commission (CSC) invites those who graduated with Latin honors in their baccalaureate degree to apply for Honor Graduate Eligibility (HGE).

Applicants must have graduated summa cum laude, magna cum laude, cum laude or their equivalent from school year 1972-1973 and thereafter.

The HGE is applicable to graduates of private higher education institutions in the Philippines with baccalaureate/bachelor’s degree recognized by the Commission on Higher Education, or state/local college or university with baccalaureate/bachelor’s degree included in its charter, or baccalaureate/bachelor’s degree duly approved by its Board of Trustees/Board of Regents.

Honor graduates from a reputable foreign school, as verified by the Department of Foreign Affairs through the Philippine Foreign Service Posts, may apply for the Foreign School Honor Graduate Eligibility (FSHGE), provided that they are Filipino citizens.

The HGE and FSHGE are both second level eligibilities that are considered appropriate for first and second level positions in government that do not involve the practice of profession and are not covered by bar/board/other laws.

Applications for HGE may be submitted to the CSC Regional Office (CSC RO) covering the location where the applicant finished his/her degree, or to any of the CSC RO’s field offices. Applications for FSHGE may be submitted to the nearest CSC Regional or Field Office where the applicant is currently based.

Applications submitted through a conduit CSC RO, in case the applicant is already based in another region, or via mail or courier are accepted. However, the CSC points out that these modes may require longer processing times.

Application fees are P200 to be paid upon filing of application, and Php300 to be paid upon approval of the application.

The complete list of requirements and application procedures are available on the CSC website at www.csc.gov.ph.

The Commission grants the HGE to qualified individuals pursuant to Presidential Decree (PD) No. 907, issued on March 11, 1976, which mandates the grant of civil service eligibility to college honor graduates in the hope that “immediate absorption of these honor graduates in the public service will assure their participation in public affairs and bouy up the quality of the civil service.”

In line with PD 907, the Commission issued CSC Resolution No. 1302714 on December 17, 2013 to include honor graduates from foreign schools in the grant of eligibility.

In 2017, the CSC has conferred a total of 8,197 HGEs. No application for FSHGE was received in the same year.

Special eligibilities

Civil service eligibilities may be obtained not only by passing the career service exams. The Commission grants eligibilities pursuant to special laws and relevant CSC issuances.

Other types of special eligibilities include Barangay Official Eligibility, Sanggunian Member Eligibility, Barangay Health Worker Eligibility, Barangay Nutrition Scholar Eligibility, Electronic Data Processing Specialist Eligibility, Scientific and Technological Specialist Eligibility, Veteran Preference Rating, and Skills Eligibility.

These are separate and distinct from the eligibilities conferred by the CSC to passers of civil service exams, such as the Career Service (CS) Professional Eligibility and Sub-Professional Eligibility which are obtained from passing the CS Professional and Sub-Professional Examinations, respectively.

The CSC said that it is optional for holders of special eligibilities to take the CS Exams. For example, holders of the HGE, which is a second level eligibility, may still take the CS Professional Exam. If they pass the said exam, they will be considered holders of both HGE and CS Professional Eligibility. Holders of the Barangay Official Eligibility, which is a first level eligibility, may opt to take the CS Sub-Professional Exam, or aim for a higher level eligibility by passing the CS Professional Exam.