QUEZON CITY -- A total of 13,131 examinees turned up for the rescheduled civil service examinations held on Sunday, 24 April, in different parts of the country.

The number of takers represents 73.60% of the expected total number of examinees previously reported at 17,840.

The exams administered were the Career Service Examination for Foreign Service Officer (CSE-FSO), originally scheduled on 12 September 2021 in nine testing centers; the Fire Officer Examination (FOE), Penology Officer Examination (POE), and Basic Competency on Local Treasury Examination (BCLTE) originally scheduled last 10 October 2021.

The CSE-FSO posted 476 actual examinees out of 711 registered or a turnout rate of 66.95%; the FOE with 9,411 actual examinees out of 12,723 registered (73.97%); the POE with 2,235 actual examinees out of 3,111 registered (71.84%); and the BCLTE with 1,009 examinees out of 1,295 registered (77.92%).

The National Capital Region had the highest number of examinees with 3,067, followed by Region VI (Western Visayas) with 2,153 and Region II (Cagayan Valley) with 1,717.

On the day of the exam, CSC Chairperson Karlo Nograles visited two Quezon City testing sites—Cubao Elementary School and UST Angelicum College—to inspect the venues and the actual examination administration process. He was accompanied by CSC National Capital Region Director IV Judith D. Chicano, as well as Examination, Recruitment, and Placement Office Director IV Maria Leticia G. Reyna.

Chairperson Nograles noted the smooth and successful conduct of the examinations, save for an incident where an FOE examinee in Region II reportedly took the test booklet out of the testing room, which is now being investigated on by CSC Regional Office II.

“We regret the alleged cheating performed by one of the examinees. We are already in close coordination with the authorities for the conduct of a thorough investigation,” he said, adding, “I would like to remind everyone that unauthorized possession of examination materials and all forms of cheating in civil service examinations are prohibited, and we will bring the full force of the law on anyone who will attempt to undermine the integrity of the civil service examinations.”

Chairperson Nograles also expressed gratitude to everyone involved in the conduct of the exams.

“I would like to thank all CSC staff, as well as the examiners and LGU personnel who, as always, have tirelessly worked with the Commission. We would like to thank as well the examinees for cooperating and complying with exam protocols and COVID-19 minimum public health standards,” Chairperson Nograles said.

While the CSC recently opened the application period for the Career Service Examination (CSE)-Professional and Subprofessional levels on 19 June, he shared that slots were quickly filled up in some regions and that many interested individuals were not able to register.

“Our Regional Offices have a combined target number of examinees of more or less 170,000 for the June CSE, yet admittedly, with the suspension of the exams in the last two years due to the pandemic, and the reduction in room seating in observance of social distancing especially in Alert Level 2 areas, andami pa ring hindi na-accommodate,” he said.

Chairperson Nograles assured the public that the CSC is working on improving testing capacity to be able to cater to more individuals who aspire to obtain civil service eligibility and enter government service.

Nograles stressed, “Kaisa ninyo kami ni Commissioner Lizada at Commissioner Acosta sa adhikaing ‘yan, kaya naman patuloy naming pinag-aaralan ang aming mga proseso upang mapabuti ito at madagdagan pa ang bilang ng mga Pilipinong maaaring makakuha ng civil service exams sa mga darating na buwan."

The CSC is scheduled to administer another round of the CSE Professional and Subprofessional tests on 7 August, coinciding with a second run of the CSE-FSO and first run of the Intermediate Competency on Local Treasury Examination or ICLTE, the application period for which will begin on 2 June.

It is also set to hold a second run of the FOE, POE, and BCLTE on 23 October, with applications to be accepted starting 18 August.

Interested individuals are advised to standby for relevant announcements to be posted on the CSC website at www.csc.gov.ph, the official CSC Facebook page at www.facebook.com/ civilservicegovph, and the respective CSC Regional Offices’ Facebook pages. (CSC)