The Philippines: Past and Present Volume I Part 36

The ranking executive officials of the insular government are a governor-general, a secretary of the interior, a secretary of finance and justice, a secretary of commerce and police and a secretary of public instruction. All of these officers are appointed by the President, subject to confirmation by the Senate. The secretary of finance and justice is a Filipino; the other secretaries of departments are Americans.

There is a legislature composed of two houses known respectively as the Philippine Commission and the Philippine a.s.sembly. The Philippine Commission is composed of nine members; five are the governor-general and the four secretaries of department _ex officio_, and four are appointed by the President subject to confirmation by the Senate. Four of the members are Filipinos and five are Americans. [483]

The Philippine a.s.sembly is composed of eighty-one elected members, all of whom are Filipinos. They represent thirty-four of the thirty-nine provinces into which the archipelago is divided. The two houses of the legislature have equal powers. Neither has any special privilege in the matter of initiating legislation, and affirmative action by both is required in order to pa.s.s it. The Moro Province, the Mountain Province and the provinces of Nueva Vizcaya and Agusan are not represented in the a.s.sembly, nor are they subject to the jurisdiction of the Philippine Legislature. The Philippine Commission alone has legislative jurisdiction over them, their population being largely composed of Moros, or members of other non-Christian tribes.

The provinces may be divided into regularly organized provinces governed under the provincial government act, and specially organized provinces, which include the Moro Province, the Mountain Province and the provinces of Mindoro, Palawan, Agusan and Nueva Vizcaya, of which the first is governed under a special law and the remaining four are governed under a different one known as "The Special Provincial Government Act."

Regularly organized provinces have a governor and a treasurer. The governor is elected, and the treasurer is appointed by the governor-general with the approval of the commission. These two officials, with another known as the third member, const.i.tute a provincial board. The third member is elected. As the Filipinos usually elect to office men from among their own people, practically all of the elective provincial officers are Filipinos, as are ten of the appointive officers, it having been the policy to appoint Filipinos whenever possible.

Regularly organized provinces are divided into munic.i.p.alities which elect their own officers and control their own affairs for the most part. Provincial treasurers have intervention in munic.i.p.al expenditures, which are approved in advance for each fiscal year, and munic.i.p.al officers may be removed for misconduct by the governor-general.

All officers of the six special government provinces are appointed by the governor-general with the approval of the commission.

There are four regularly organized munic.i.p.alities in these provinces, but the remainder of their territory is divided into townships, which elect their own officers, except their secretary-treasurers, who are appointed by the provincial governor; and into _rancherias_ or settlements, with all of their officials appointed by the provincial governor. This latter form of local government is confined to the more primitive wild people.

The judiciary is independent. The details of its organization will be found in Chapter XV.

Three of the seven justices of the supreme court, including the chief justice, are Filipinos, as are approximately half of the judges of the courts of first instance and practically all justices of the peace.

At the close of the fiscal year ending June 30, 1913, 71 per cent of the employees in the cla.s.sified civil service of the islands were Filipinos painstakingly trained for the positions to which they had been appointed.

Prior to the American occupation, the Filipinos had practically no intervention in the government of their country.

The changes introduced in the twelve years since the establishment of civil government began are of a sweeping and radical nature. For reasons hereinafter fully set forth, I believe they have been somewhat too sweeping, and too radical. At all events, it is now certainly the part of wisdom carefully to a.n.a.lyze their results before going further.

I deem the subject of the establishment of civil governmental control over the non-Christian tribes of the Philippines worthy of special consideration. [484]

CHAPTER XIII

The Philippine Civil Service

Before the Philippine Commission left Washington, a clear understanding was reached with the President and secretary of war to the effect that no political appointee whatsoever should under any circ.u.mstances be forced upon us. After arrival at Manila early attention was given to the drafting of a civil service act by Mr. Taft, who was fortunate in having the a.s.sistance of Mr. Frank M. Kiggins, chief of the examining division of the United States Civil Service Commission. The pa.s.sage of this act and its strict enforcement led to very favourable comment in the United States. In his first annual message President Roosevelt said:--

"It is important to have this system obtain at home, but it is even more important to have it rigidly applied in our insular possessions....

"The merit system is simply one method of securing honest and efficient administration of the government, and in the long run the sole justification of any type of government lies in its proving itself both honest and efficient."

Secretary Root also gave us his fullest support, calling attention to the fact that the law which we had pa.s.sed was of a very advanced type, and that under such circ.u.mstances as confronted us, the securing of the best men available should outweigh, and indeed practically exclude, all other considerations.

Our action met with the unqualified approval of organizations which especially interest themselves in the maintenance of clean and efficient public service, such as the Cambridge (Ma.s.sachusetts) Civil Service Reform a.s.sociation [485] and the National Civil Service Reform League, whose committee on civil service in dependencies spoke in very high terms of existing conditions in the Philippines. [486]

In its first annual report the Civil Service Board called attention to some of the more important provisions of the Act in the following words:--

"Compet.i.tive examinations must, whenever practicable, be held for original entrance to the service, and promotions of employees must also be based upon compet.i.tive examinations, in which the previous experience and efficiency of employees shall be given due consideration. The examinations for entrance to the service must be held in the United States and in the Philippine Islands, and applicants are required to be tested in both English and Spanish.

"Disloyalty to the United States of America as the supreme authority in the Islands is made a complete disqualification for holding office, and every applicant for admission to the service must, before being admitted to examination, take the oath of loyalty. By an amendment to the Civil Service Act on January 26, 1901, it is further declared that all persons in arms against the authority of the United States in the Philippine Islands, and all persons aiding or abetting them, on the first day of April, 1901, shall be ineligible to hold office.

"A minimum age limit of eighteen years and a maximum age limit of forty years are fixed for those who enter the lowest grades in the service. This avoids the difficulty and embarra.s.sment that would result from the admission of men advanced in years to positions where the duties can be better performed by younger and more energetic persons.

"The Board is given authority to investigate matters relative to the enforcement of the act and the rules, and is empowered to administer oaths, to summon witnesses, and to require the production of office books and records in making such investigations. Without such a provision it would be very difficult, if not impossible, to conduct satisfactory investigations, but with the authority conferred by the act, the Board can make a rigid inquiry into the facts of every case arising under the act and the rules.

"The act provides for the ultimate cla.s.sification of all positions in the service, from laborers to heads of bureaus and offices, and the Board may, in its discretion, determine the efficiency of those now in the service as well as those who may enter hereafter through its examinations. This authority will enable the Board to ascertain the fitness of all employees so that only the most competent will be retained in the service.

"As a check upon the illegal payment of salaries the act provides that whenever the Board finds that a person has been appointed in violation of its provisions or of the rules of the Board, and so certifies to the disbursing and auditing officers, such payments shall be illegal, and if payment is continued the disbursing officer shall not receive credit for the same and the auditing officer who authorizes the payment shall be liable on his official bond for the loss to the government."

In its third annual report the Civil Service Board mentioned the following among its distinctive duties:--

"All appointments to cla.s.sified positions are required to be made on a form prescribed by the Board, and the Board's attestation is required in each case before the Civil Governor or Secretary of Department will approve the appointment and before the disbursing officer will pay any salary.

"The papers in all cases of reduction, removal and enforced resignation are required to be submitted to the Board for recommendation before transmission to the Civil Governor or Secretary of Department for final action.

"The Board is required to keep a record of all uncla.s.sified as well as cla.s.sified employees in the Philippine civil service, showing among other things date of appointment, original position and salary, place of employment, all changes in status and grade, and all accrued and sick leave granted.

"From its service records the Board is required to compile annually, for publication on January 1, a roster of the officers and employees under the Philippine Government.

"Applications from employees, cla.s.sified and uncla.s.sified, for accrued and sick leave for more than two days must be made on a form prescribed by the Board and forwarded to it for verification of service record and previous leave granted and for recommendation before final action is taken by the Civil Governor or Secretary of Department."

These extracts from official reports clearly show that the act was indeed of a very advanced type, and if honestly enforced would of necessity lead to the establishment and maintenance of "an efficient and honest civil service," for which purpose it was enacted.

In 1905 the insular government dispensed with boards as administrative agencies, and in accordance with this general policy, a bureau of civil service with a director at its head was subst.i.tuted for the Civil Service Board, thus securing greater administrative efficiency and increased economy.

At first the Civil Service Act applied to comparatively few positions, as only a few bureaus and offices had been created, but as the government was organized and grew, the different bureaus and offices were placed in the cla.s.sified service, the acts organizing them leaving in the uncla.s.sified service positions to which in the judgment of the commission the examination requirements of the act should not apply. Ultimately these requirements were made applicable to the treasurers of all munic.i.p.alities and to all positions, including teachers, in the executive and judicial branches of the central government, the provincial governments, and the governments of the cities of Manila and Baguio, except a few specifically excepted by law, which for the most part are uncla.s.sified or exempt in almost all governments, national, state and munic.i.p.al, having civil service laws. None of the states of the Union has such a widely extended cla.s.sification of its civil service.

With the exception of the positions specifically placed in the uncla.s.sified service by law and of appointments made by the Philippine Commission, all positions in the Philippine civil service are cla.s.sified and must be filled by appointees who have pa.s.sed civil service examinations. Neither the governor-general nor the Bureau of Civil Service can, by the promulgation of civil service rules, or in any other manner whatever, transfer any position from the cla.s.sified to the uncla.s.sified service or except from examination any position in the cla.s.sified service. Under most of the civil service laws of the United States the President or the governor of the state has authority to transfer positions from the non-cla.s.sified or exempted cla.s.s to the compet.i.tive cla.s.sified civil service or _vice versa_, these powers sometimes leading to manipulation of the civil service rules for political purposes.

In the Philippines, where emergencies, such as cholera epidemics, sometimes lead to the employment of large bodies of temporary employees without examination, when the emergency has pa.s.sed the temporary employees have always been discharged; and no employee has ever received cla.s.sification without examination on account of temporary service. This is in marked contrast to the practice in the United States, where large bodies of employees taken on for temporary service due to emergencies, such as the war with Spain, are not infrequently blanketed into the cla.s.sified service without examination.

In its last annual report the board recommended that a number of official positions in the uncla.s.sified service be placed in the cla.s.sified service, and gave as a reason therefor that such action would "add to the attractiveness of the cla.s.sified service by increasing the opportunities therein for promotion to responsible positions." This recommendation was adopted by providing that all vacancies in the positions of heads and a.s.sistant heads of bureaus or offices and of superintendents shall be filled by promotion, with or without examination, in the discretion of the civil governor or proper head of a department, of persons in the cla.s.sified civil service, if competent persons are found therein.

This provision is an important and distinguishing feature of the Philippine Civil Service Act. The federal civil service has none comparable with it. It is of special value in that it induces young men of exceptional ability and training to enter the lower grades, for they have the certainty that faithful and efficient work will in the end earn for them the highest positions.

On February 25, 1909, the director of civil service made the following statement with respect to the observance of the law:--

"A careful study of Act 5 and all acts amendatory thereof will show that there has been no change in the policy adopted by the Commission at the outset to extend the cla.s.sified service as widely as possible and to fill by promotion all the higher positions so far as practicable. The provision requiring the higher positions to be filled by promotion so far as practicable has always been regarded by the Philippine Commission, by this Bureau, and by others interested in obtaining the best possible government service in the Philippines as one of the most important provisions of the Civil Service Act. It has been faithfully observed by all Governors-General....With the exception of the positions of Governor-General and Secretaries of Departments, the Philippine Civil Service Act requires the highest positions in the executive civil service, namely, chiefs and a.s.sistant chiefs of Bureaus and Offices, to be filled by promotion from the entire service in all cases except when in the opinion of the appointing power there is no person competent and available who possesses the qualifications required, and this provision has been faithfully observed heretofore."

The enforcement of the law by the commission has received the following commendation from the executive committee of the National Civil Service Reform League:--

"We have further to note with satisfaction the course of the Philippine Commission, by which, if it be persevered in, the merit system will be established in the Islands of that archipelago at least as thoroughly and consistently as in any department of government, Federal, State, or Munic.i.p.al, in the Union. This must be, in any case, regarded as a gratifying recognition of sound principles of administration on the part of the Commission, and justifies the hope that, within the limits of their jurisdiction at least, no repet.i.tion of the scandals of post-bellum days will be tolerated."

Up to the time of the appointment of Governor-General Harrison the provisions of the Civil Service Act and rules were firmly supported by all of the governors-general and secretaries of departments, and the annual reports of the governor-general uniformly expressed satisfaction with their practical operation. Mr. Taft was always an enthusiastic supporter of the merit system.

Governor-General Forbes in his inaugural address made the following statements:--