Davao City (16 August) -- Nearly 400 managerial positions in various government agencies are open for occupancy, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) disclosed recently.

CSC Chair Karina Constantino-David said there are actually 382 vacant third level positions in the government that are listed in the CSC website as of August 3, 2007. The CSC website may be accessed at www.csc.gov.ph.

Third level of government service, David explained, covers executive or managerial positions such as undersecretary, assistant secretary, bureau director, regional director, assistant regional director, chief of department service, and other officers of equivalent rank.

David said the vacancies come from 44 various government-owned or controlled corporations, government financial institutions, constitutional commissions, departments, and including even the Senate and the House of Representatives.

On top of the list is the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) registering 88 vacancies. Said third level vacant positions range from Senior Corporate Attorney, Technical Assistant, Senior Assistant Manager, Department Manager/Assistant Vice President, Vice President to Senior Vice President with annual salaries ranging from approximately P700,000 all the way to P1.7M.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) is next to PDIC posting 40 vacancies, while the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) comes in third with 24 vacant positions. Not far behind is the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) with 23 vacancies.

Other government agencies with significant number of vacant third level positions include the Bureau of the Treasury (BoT) and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) each posting 16 vacancies; the National Transmission Corporation (TRANSCO) with 15 vacancies; the Department of Education (DepEd) with 14 vacancies; the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth), House of Representatives (HoR), and Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) with 13 vacancies each; the Philippine Aerospace Development Corporation (PADC) with 11 vacancies; and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with 10 vacancies.

Details of the vacancies may be secured from the CSC website www.csc.gov.ph. Each posted vacant position include information on the complete name/title of position, annual salary, salary grade, place of assignment, and qualification standards that cover education, experience, training and eligibility requirements.

David said the third level vacancies shall remain posted in the CSC website for six months or until filled up. Similarly, the vacancies are posted in the Phil-JobNet of the Department of Labor and Employment at http://phil-jobnet.dole.gov.ph.

Such posting, the CSC chief pointed out, is the heart of the CSC's recently issued directive on the publication of authorized-to-be-filled vacant third level positions in the government.

Under the new rule, which is contained in CSC Resolution No. 070630 and circularized through CSC Memorandum Circular No. 11, s. 2007, government vacancies in the third level, including those occupied by temporary appointees, shall be published on a regular basis.

Apart from the posting of actual vacancies in the CSC website, David said the directive would also entail the publication of a summary of vacant third level positions by sector and by position in a newspaper of general circulation on the third Sunday of every other month beginning last July 15, 2007.

Previously, vacant positions in the third level are among the positions exempted from the publication requirement.

The policy on publication of vacant third level positions is adopted mainly to ensure that information on vacancies especially in the third level, gets to and reaches potential applicants, David added. The policy is also seen to strengthen the merit system in the government, uphold transparency, and further level off the playing field toward equal opportunities in the recruitment and hiring of new personnel especially in the third or executive level of government service.