The Honor Awards Program (HAP) is the rewards and incentives program of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) that recognizes government officials and employees who have displayed outstanding work performance. Under HAP is the annual Search for Outstanding Government Workers that honors exemplary accomplishments and behavior, and the Pamanang Lingkod Bayani program or PLBi honors qualified public servants who died in the line of duty.

Brief History

On 19 June 1959, the Employee Suggestions and Incentives Awards System (ESIAS) came into existence under Section 27 of Republic Act No. 2260. ESIAS grants honorary awards to public servants for their suggestions, inventions and extraordinary feats that result in economy and efficiency of government operation. It also grants awards to government employees who perform extraordinary acts or services beyond public expectations. Awards under RA 2260 were known as Presidential Award, Distinguished Honor Award, Superior Award and the Meritorious Honor Award. RA 2260 granted a total of 129 honor awards covering the period of 1966 until 1975.

On 6 October 1975, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) was reorganized by virtue of Presidential Decree 807 or the Civil Service Decree which established, among others, a new set of rules, regulations and guidelines on ESIAS. The new law modified the types of honor awards as follows: Presidential or Lingkod Bayan and Silangan Awards, the Civil Service Commission or Pagasa Award and the Agency or Kapwa Award.

On 18 August 1988 President Corazon C. Aquino issued Executive Order No. 334 to institute the Presidential Awards for Outstanding Public Service. Based on the Omnibus Civil Service Rules and Regulations Implementing Book V of Executive Order 292, the type of honor awards are: the Presidential or Lingkod Bayan Award and the Civil Service Commission or Pagasa Award.

In 1992, President Aquino issued Executive Order 508 revoking EO 334. EO 508 instituted the Lingkod Bayan Award as the Presidential Award for Outstanding Public Service.

President Fidel V. Ramos amended EO 508 in 1993 with Executive Order No. 77, which clarified the legal basis of the conferment of Lingkod Bayan Award.

Developing the Profile of a Civil Servant: An Exploratory Study of Civil Servants in Metro Manila
2014 Research Report

Authors:

Maria Luisa Salonga-Agamata, PhD, CESO V 
Director IV, Public Assistance and Information Office 
Civil Service Commission

Jacinto Gavino, DPA
Professor, Asian Institute of Management

Marcia Czarina Corazon Medina, MA 
Professor, Department of Sociology and Anthropology 
Ateneo de Manila University

Executive Summary

Under the Republic Act No. 6713, the Civil Service Commission is tasked to undertake continuous research and experimentation on measures which provide positive motivation to public officials and employees in raising the general level of observance of the standards of the norms of conduct of public officials and employees. During the 4 June 2012 meeting with the CSC Multi-sectoral Advisory Council, it was agreed that the CSC should “craft an integrated profile of the civil servant. CSC should really define a meaningful, integrated, down-to-earth profile of a "civil servant hero". There should be a common standard for what a government employee should be, a profile that will be used as a basis for awards and a profile which the common tao can relate with. CSC can typify and feature this persona publicly every month (ex. an employee of the month) so that it gets noticed.”

An exploratory study was undertaken by the Public Assistance and Information Office (PAIO) in collaboration with research partners from the Asian Institute of Management (AIM) and the Ateneo de Manila University (ADMU). It focused on civil servants who were based in Metro Manila during the five-month timeframe of the study, which was from November 2012 to March 2013. This limitation was based on primarily the manageability of data gathering and the limitations from the time and resources dispensable for the study.

The research study followed a mixed method approach, comprising of both a quantitative and qualitative element. However, these two parts respond to two different sets of inquiry as outlined in the research questions. The quantitative part of the methodology sought to provide descriptive analysis of the civil servants based on the variable categories already present in their Personnel Data Sheet (PDS). Meanwhile, the qualitative part of the methodology sought to provide initial insight as to the reasons behind exemplary performance of HAP awardees over non-awardee civil servants.

Read the results and findings here