14/10/2025
๐๐๐๐๐๐ | ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ข๐ ๐ข๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ: ๐๐ก๐๐๐ญ๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฌ๐ญ๐๐ฆ ๐จ๐ ๐๐จ๐ฆ๐ฉ๐๐ญ๐๐ง๐๐
Cheating the system of competence begins the moment we value position over qualification in the name of youth empowerment. The recent move by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to automatically grant civil service eligibility to Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials who have completed a full three-year term (or its equivalent) is one such policy that threatens doing precisely that. While the desire to honor youthful leadership is understandable, this policy (CSC Resolution No. 2500752) effectively cheats the system of competence by bypassing the very examination that measures oneโs readiness to serve. In doing so, it undermines the principle of merit, effort, and fairnessโ replacing hard-earned qualification with automatic privilege.
๐๐ง ๐๐ง๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐๐ ๐๐๐ฐ๐๐ซ๐
A slap to the face of every hardworking citizen! The CSCโs new rule hands eligibility without the examination-based filtering that has long served as a safeguard of competence. The Civil Service Exam (CSE) exists to ensure knowledge, competence, and commitment to public service. To bypass this standardized test for a positionโany public office or jobโ in favor of mere title encourages complacency. The law treats them alike under Sangguniang Kabataan Official Eligibility (SKOE). But merit demands more than simply โserved three years.โ
Consider this: in the most recent Civil Service Examination held on August 10, 2025, only 15.14% of examinees nationwide passed. Out of more than 302,028 takers, fewer than 46,000 succeeded in the Professional level. Such figures reveal just how demanding the exam truly isโ a test that measures not only knowledge but dedication, perseverance, and readiness for public duty.
Yet under the new CSC policy, one can now โslide into eligibilityโ merely by serving as an SK official, bypassing the very challenge that thousands of Filipinos struggle to overcome. This move weakens the morale of those who tirelessly pass the CSE the hard way. Professionals, graduates, bar takers, and revieweesโ all those who sacrificed time, money, and stabilityโ will see this new rule as a betrayal of fairness. Rewarding people for position rather than performance opens a wide door for cynicism.
๐๐จ๐ฉ๐ฎ๐ฅ๐๐ซ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐จ๐ฏ๐๐ซ ๐๐ซ๐จ๐๐ข๐๐ข๐๐ง๐๐ฒ
In a country where both the educational and political system are spotty, and where the pastoral culture of โwho you knowโ often outweighs โwhat you can do,โ granting eligibility based on political appointment or election in youth councils amplifies the risk of nepotism and enforcement gaps. Some SK officials are deeply committed; many are not. SK leadership is not always rigorously testedโ in many barangays, SK officials are chosen more for popularity or connection than for demonstrated governance skills. Automatically granting CSC eligibility does nothing to guarantee actual administrative ability; it merely gives out a certificate.
Worse, some Liga ng mga Kabataan activities and SK initiatives are more glorified than genuinely transformativeโ a string of sports tournaments, tree-planting selfies, and seminars that look good on paper but fail to create lasting impact on their communities. Leadership, in this case, becomes a matter of visibility rather than value.
What incentive remains to study, to qualify, to compete? When eligibility is decoupled from proof of competence, public service risks being clogged not with the best, but with the entitled.
๐๐จ๐ฎ๐๐ฅ๐-๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฌ๐ฐ๐จ๐ซ๐
To be fair, the intent behind the policy is not without merit. The Civil Service Commissionโs move stems from a desire to recognize the contributions of the youthโthose who juggled studies, governance, and community projects while serving as SK officials. For years, the SK has been criticized as a breeding ground for apathy, so the CSCโs gesture could be seen as an attempt to rebrand youth leadership as something respectable and rewarding. It acknowledges the late-night barangay meetings, the paperwork, the small but meaningful initiatives that shaped their formative years in public service. Yet this well-meaning recognition cuts both ways.
Empowerment should not come at the expense of competence. By granting eligibility automatically, the CSC unintentionally dilutes the very value it wishes to upholdโservice rooted in skill and substance. Experience in governance is valuable, yes, but it should complementโnot substituteโthe merit-based standards that ensure government employees are truly prepared to serve. Leadership experience and bureaucratic competence are not interchangeable.
Moreover, while the CSC defends the move by limiting it to sub-professional eligibility, the implication still sets a dangerous precedent. If experience alone can waive examination requirements, what stops future resolutions from extending the same privilege to other sectorsโbarangay officials, interns, volunteers, or political aides? Once the foundation of meritocracy is cracked, exceptions become the rule, and fairness becomes negotiable.
๐๐๐ค๐ ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐ญ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฌ ๐ญ๐ฎ๐ซ๐ง
If we truly want to professionalize youth leadership, the standard should be reversed. Instead of handing out eligibility as a reward, the CSC examination should be a requirementโ a gateway that ensures only competent, capable, and informed individuals are entrusted to lead. This would not only elevate the quality of SK governance but also instill in young leaders a deeper sense of meritocracy and accountability from the very start.
Leadership should not be a privilege granted first and justified later. It should be earned through knowledge, discipline, and proven capability.
To uphold these ideals, strong oversight should be instituted. SK officials who receive SKOE should be evaluated not only on paper but in practiceโ through community feedback, audit of projects, transparency in budget spending, measurable outputs. Otherwise, mere position becomes the measure of success, not actual performance.
๐ ๐๐๐ซ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ , ๐๐จ๐ญ ๐ ๐๐ซ๐๐ข๐ฌ๐
Empowering youth is noble, but replacing merit with mere position is dangerous. The government should avoid creating a system where eligibility is granted like a handshake, with little proof of readiness. For the Philippines to thrive, Civil Service must remain a standard, not a shortcut.
If SK officials truly deserve recognition, let that come through verified competenceโnot inherited entitlement. A better path would have been to reward SK officials through preferential treatment in the exam, training credits, or certificates of distinction that enhance, rather than replace the process of qualification. In doing so, the CSC could have balanced appreciation with accountabilityโempowering without exempting, and honoring without undermining. Because competence cannot be cheated; time always unmasks the unqualified.
Words by Hazel Elaine Gaerlan
Layout by Hydee Noraine Razon and Angelle Lyanne Quitilen
