PD 907 civil service eligibility now open for graduates of open universities
Honor graduates of universities and colleges offering degree programs via open and distance learning will now be able to apply for government sector jobs even without passing the civil service examinations. This is in accordance with Civil Service Commission (CSC) resolution #2300615 which took effect last November 2.
The policy of granting automatic civil service eligiblity to graduates with Latin honors – summa cum laude, magna cum laude, and cum laude – was originally laid out through the late dictator Ferdinand Marcos, Sr.’s Presidential Decree (PD) 907.
However, the CSC in 2011 released resolution #1101645 which explicitly ruled that graduates of degree programs offered via distance education cannot be exempted from the civil service examination in line with PD 907 because they supposedly did not go through the “competitive atmosphere of the academic community.”
The CSC has listed the following requirements for graduates of open universities that would like to apply for automatic civil service eligibility:
1. He/she graduated from school year 2015-2016, upon the promulgation of the Implementing Rules and Regulations of Republic Act 10650 or the Open Distance Learning Act on 29 February 2016, and thereafter. This means that those who earned their degrees from higher education institutions (HEI) implementing open and distance learning prior to 2016 are still excluded from the honor graduate eligibility.
2. He/She graduated with a Latin honor of either summa cum laude, magna cum laude, or cum laude, in their bachelor’s degree through ODL, regardless of the number of years of completion.
3. He/She graduated from an open university/college/institution recognized by the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) as a degree-granting HEI. The said university/college/institution should have at least a Level III accreditation or CHED equivalent in the programs offered in the conventional classroom or traditional mode of learning, pursuant to Section 3 (g) of RA 10650.
It is important to note that in the resolution, the CSC specifically acknowledged the role played by the administration of the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU) led by Chancellor Melinda Bandalaria as well as its University Student Council led by its chairperson Isaiah Athanasius Crisanto in successfully advocating for this policy change.
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