Republic Act No. 7041

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assembled:

Section 1. Policy

It shall be the policy of the Government to promote efficiency in the allocation of personnel in the civil service, as well as transparency and equal opportunities in the recruitment and hiring of new personnel.

Section 2. Duty of Personnel Officers

It shall be the duty of all Chief Personnel or Administrative Officers of all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities and agencies of the Government, including government-owned or controlled corporations with original charters, and local government units, to post in three (3) conspicuous places of their offices for a period of ten (10) days a complete list of all existing vacant positions in their respective offices which are authorized to be filled, and to transmit a copy of such list and the corresponding qualification standards to the Civil Service Commission not later than the tenth day of every month. Vacant positions shall not be filled until after publication: provided, however, that vacant unfilled positions that are:

a) primarily confidential;

b) policy-determining;

c) highly technical;

d) coterminous with that of the appointing authority, or

e) limited to the duration of a particular project shall be excluded from the list required under this Law.

Section 3. Publication of Vacancies

The Chairman and members of the Civil Service Commission shall publish once every quarter a complete list of all the existing vacant positions in the Government throughout the country, including the qualification standards required for each position and, thereafter, certify under oath to the completion of publication. Copies of such publication shall be sold at cost to the public and distributed free of charge to the various personnel offices of the government where they shall be available for inspection by the public: provided, that said publication shall be posted by the Chief Personnel or Administrative Officer of all local government units in at least three (3) public and conspicuous places in their respective municipalities and provinces: provided, further, that any vacant position published therein shall be open to any qualified person who does not necessarily belong to the same office with the vacancy or who occupies a position next-in rank to the vacancy: provided, finally, that the Civil Service Commission shall not act on any appointment to fill up a vacant position unless the same has been reported to and published by the Commission.

Section 4. Penalties

a) Any violation of Sections 2 and or 3 of this Act and its implementing rules and regulations shall subject the official concerned to public censure without prejudice to the withholding of his salary pending compliance with the requirements as provided in this Act.

b) Any repeated and willful violation of Sections 2 and/or 3 of this Act and it's implementing rules and regulations shall subject the official concerned to criminal prosecution and, upon conviction, suffer the penalty of imprisonment of two (2) years and/or a fine of not less than Five Thousand pesos (P5,000.00) nor more than Ten thousand pesos (P10,000.00), at the discretion of the court.

Section 5. Jurisdiction

The Civil Service Commission shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction to investigate and recommend for prosecution all cases of violation of this Act: provided, however, that in case the violation is alleged to have been committed by the Chairman and/or any of the Commissioners of the Civil Service Commission, the Ombudsman shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over the investigation and prosecution of said alleged violation.

Section 6. Implementing Rules

The Civil Service Commission shall issue the rules and regulations necessary for the effective implementation of this Act.

Section 7. Existing Laws

Without prejudice to the provisions of existing laws requiring the posting or disclosure of matters of public interest, the provisions of this Act shall not apply during any period when there is a ban on hiring.

Section 8. Appropriation

The amount necessary for the effective implementation of this at shall be charged against the appropriations for the Civil Service Commission under the current General Appropriations Act. Thereafter, such amount as may be necessary for the continuous implementation of this Act shall be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.

Section 9. Repealing Clause

All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations or parts thereof inconsistent with this Act or the rules and regulations promulgated pursuant thereto are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

Section 10. Separability Clause

If any provision of this Act is declared unconstitutional or inoperative, the other provisions not so declared shall remain in force and effect.

Section 11. Effectivity

This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after publication in any newspaper of general circulation.

Approved: June 5, 1991.