Bontoc, Mountain Province – Adhering to the principles of merit, competence, fitness, accountability, transparency, and equal opportunity, the members of the Human Resource Merit Promotion and Selection Board (HRM PSB) and the Recruitment, Selection and Promotion (RSP) Technical Working Group (TWG) of the Bontoc Local Government Unit (LGU) convened for the reorientation and deliberation of the competency – based Merit Selection Plan (MSP) of the Bontoc LGU on June 11, 2024, at the Sangguniang Bayan Conference Hall of the Municipal Capitol.

Sangguniang Bayan Member Dan Evert Sokoken who presided over the meeting remarked that it is but proper to review the agency’s MSP which serves as a guide in the selection, hiring, appointment, and promotion of individuals/ applicants in the first and second level positions.

Sokoken added that the through the MSP, it creates equal opportunities for employment to all qualified applicants to enter the government service and for career advancement in the agency/ institution.

With this, Human Resource Management Officer III Arleen Eickmee Gasmeña, presented the MSP before the members of the HRM PSB and the RSP TWG the MSP of the Bontoc LGU.

Gasmeña explained that the policy aligns and contextualizes Bontoc LGU’s internal system on application, evaluation, selection, and appointment with the provisions of the Civil Service Commission (CSC)’s Omnibus Rules on Appointments and Other Human Resource Actions (ORAOHRA).

She added that the Bontoc LGU adheres to the principles of merit, fitness and equality, of which the selection of employees shall be based on their relative qualifications and competence to perform the duties and responsibilities of the position.

Gasmeña further elaborated in her presentation that there shall be no discrimination in the selection of employees on account of age, sex, sexual orientation and gender identity,civil status, disability, religion, ethnicity, or political affiliation.

The issuance of the MSP is one of interventions of the Bontoc LGU to improve the human resource policies and processes in order to better serve stakeholders/clients.

It is to be noted that under the provisions of the 2017 ORA OHRA, Rule IX (Agency Merit Selection Plan and Human Resource Merit Promotion and Selection Board) it was stipulated in Section 85 that the HRMPSB shall assist the appointing officer/authority in the judicious and objective selection of candidates for appointment in the agency in accordance with the approved Agency MSP.

Likewise, the HRMPSB shall be primarily responsible for the judicious and objective selection of candidates for appointment in the agency in accordance with the approved Agency MSP and shall submit to the appointing officer/authority the top five (5) ranking candidates deemed most qualified for appointment to the vacant position.

Further, it was stated under Section 86 that the appointing officer/authority shall be guided by the report of the HRMPSB’s assessment of candidates and in the exercise of sound discretion, select, insofar as practicable, from among the top five (5) candidates or less, deemed most qualified for appointment to the vacant position, depending on the number of candidates. By Alpine L. Killa, Bontoc LGU