‘Paperless recruitment:’ CSC-CAR eyes Integrated Digital HR System

'...awanen ti papel-papel nga dapat mausar. Sumrek amin dayta from the recruitment iti sistema inggana nga maaksyonan' - CSC-CAR Assistant Regional Director Ruben Wacas

 

TABUK CITY, Kalinga — The Civil Service Commission-Cordillera Administrative Region (CSC-CAR) is moving toward a more integrated and digitalized human resource management system that could significantly reduce paperwork in government recruitment and personnel transactions.

CSC-CAR Assistant Regional Director Ruben Wacas shared the vision during the formal launching of the 1st Provincial Season of Creation and GANDAng HR: Kalinga Public Service on September 7 at the Kalinga Sports Center in Bulanao.

Wacas said the shift is part of the Philippine Civil Service Commission’s transition from the Program to Institutionalize Meritocracy and Excellence in Human Resource Management (PRIME-HRM) to PRIME Embedded Systems Governance (PRIME ESG).

“Under PRIME ESG, we stop preparing for inspections and start embedding governance into our daily transactions,” Wacas said.

He explained that the envisioned system will integrate HR processes and governance mechanisms into the information management systems used by government agencies, including payroll and other personnel transactions.

For recruitment, Wacas said the goal is eventually to eliminate much of the paperwork by allowing transactions to move electronically from the start of the recruitment process until the appropriate action is taken by the CSC.

“...awanen ti papel-papel nga dapat mausar—dapat sumrek amin dayta from the recruitment, sumrek dayta ti sistema inggana nga aksyonan ti CSC,” he said.

The initiative aims to make HR transactions more efficient while strengthening accountability, data integrity and governance.

13 governance controls

Wacas also discussed the 13 baseline governance controls that agencies are expected to maintain over a two-year period before full enrollment in digital platforms.

These include screening against government personnel databases before issuing service-related documents, maintaining HR action-data integrity, ensuring HR management officers meet qualification and certification requirements, and strengthening processes involving plantilla, compensation and validation.

Wacas stressed that digitalization should not simply replace paper documents with electronic files but should improve governance.

“Failure in governance number 1 and 4 constitute critical governance breaches,” he said.

Technology anchored on Kalinga values

Wacas also connected HR modernization with the values that guide public service in Kalinga.

He cited puso sa serbisyo, as well as the Kalinga values of ngilin, paniyaw and bain, which he said promote human dignity, honesty, social harmony and community well-being.

He also pointed to the bodong system as reflecting honor, commitment, competence and solidarity.

“Our practice of bodong, where honor, commitment, competence and solidarity to the public are faithfully fulfilled. To serve in Kalinga is to anchor modern governance upon ancestral wisdom,” Wacas said.

For Wacas, modernizing government systems should go hand in hand with preserving the values that define public service.

The envisioned HR system seeks to make recruitment and other personnel transactions more seamless, with less paperwork, stronger data integrity and clearer accountability, while keeping public service grounded in integrity and the welfare of the people.