President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. has appointed Meinrado C. Pañgulayan, Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) undersecretary for Policy, Planning and Research, as director of the Career Executive Service Board (CESB) for a full term of six years.
Pañgulayan will discharge the duties of CESB director and DAR Undersecretary in a simultaneous capacity.
A lawyer by profession, Pañgulayan said his appointment comes at the best of times, with a DAR chief in Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III “who is very supportive of the career advancement and professional growth of the men and women of the Department.”
Interviewed by the BusinessMirror, Pañgulayan is confident that the President would like to continue what his father, the late former President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr., “to professionalize the government career service in accordance with the Constitution; public officers must act responsibly, efficiently and live modest life, and serve the Filipino people.”
Pañgulayan said he looks forward to working with Civil Service Commission (CSC) Chairman Karlo Alexei B. Nograles who sits as the Board Chairman of the CESB.
“Together with chairman Karlo Nograles, I think the President has acted to fill up the vacancies, which caused the slight delay in the ranking of CESOs [Career Executive Service Officers], now, kumpleto na, we have a quorum. Actually, Chairman Nograles is calling a meeting next week. There are pending resolutions that need to be acted upon,” said Pañgulayan.
Pañgulayan said he would help the CESB in his capacity as a voting member, while helping DAR in pursuing a more professionalized career service, from the rank and file up to the highest ranks in the career service officer rank.
The Career Executive Service (CES) is the third level or the managerial class in the group of career positions in the Philippine Civil Service.
The CES was created by Presidential Decree No. 1 by President Ferdinand E. Marcos Sr. in 1972 to “form a continuing pool of well-selected and development-oriented career administrators who shall provide competent and faithful service.”
The CES is also a public personnel system separate from that of the first two levels of positions in the Philippine Civil Service.
The CESB is the governing body of the CES. It is mandated to promulgate rules, standards and procedures on the selection, classification, compensation and career development of members of the CES.
CESOs are appointed to ranks and assigned to CES positions. As such, they can be reassigned or transferred from one CES position to another and from one office to another but not more than once every two years. The CES is like the Armed Forces and the Foreign Service where the officers are also appointed to ranks and assigned to positions.
Entry to the CES is based on merit and fitness as determined by competitive examination, or based on highly technical qualifications. This is undertaken through the four-stage CES eligibility examination process, namely: CES Written Examination; Assessment Center; Performance Validation; and CES Board Interview.
CES Eligibility is acquired by passing the four-stage CES eligibility examination process. Successful completion of each stage is a pre-requisite to the succeeding stages of the CES eligibility examination process. The Career Service Executive Eligibility (CSEE) conferred by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) is equivalent to the two of the four-stage CES eligibility examination process, namely: Written Examination and Board Interview.
Undersecretary Pañgulayan is the founding President of the DAR Association of Career Executives (DAR ACES), which was organized in 2021 and is operating as an association registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission.