Senate approves two bills for 2011 career executive system act and decriminalizing vagrancy

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, March 15, 2011-The Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading the two bills for career executive system act (CASA) of 2011 and bill decriminalizing vagrancy.

Senate bill number 2671 otherwise known as CASA is designed for effective, efficient and responsible administration of government officials and seek to strengthen the bureaucracy by professionalizing the ranks of government managers and executives.

           

Senator Antonio “Sonny” Trillanes IV, who authored the bill along with Senator Bong Revilla said that the passage of the measure would help minimize political appointments and ensure that all government officials are eligible under the Civil Service Law.

Trillanes furthered that this measure will ensure that our civil servants will follow the principles of merit and fitness in the government and will insulate the Career Executive System and Career Executive Service Board (CESB) from political interference and encourage the professionalization of our government managers and executives.

“CESB is a policy-making body responsible for the development, training and administration of civil managers and executives and was formed to create a continuing pool of well-selected development-oriented career administrators,” Trillanes said, adding that it will be transferred to the Civil Service Commission (CSC) from the wings of the Office of the President, a step seen to curb political accommodations under the bill.

With the CSC being the central personnel agency of the government, the Senator explained that the bill will provide harmonization to the policies, rules and regulations pertaining to government personnel, saying that the legislation would also ensure that civil service officials will be prescribed a fixed tour of duty of three years during which they cannot be transferred to other offices or positions without consent of the CSC.

                       

“The civil servant serves as the government backbone,” Trillanes said, stressing that to install a system which would ensure merit and fitness among our government employees regardless of rank is required.

Meanwhile, the bill decriminalizing vagrancy, a proposal Trillanes co-sponsored with five other senators was also put forward to remove vagrancy as a criminal offense in the Revised Penal Code because it has become a common excuse for law enforcers to detain, arrest or bring to the police station any person the police don’t have sufficient reasons to arrest or those with no specific crime to charged with under Senate bill number 2726 which authored by Senator Chiz Escudero, chairman of the committee on justice and human rights. (Jason de Asis)