WASHINGTON, March 21, 2025 - The World Bank's Board of Executive Directors today approved a support package to help strengthen the Philippine's competency-based approach to recruitment, selection, learning and development, performance management, and rewards and recognition, to foster a more vibrant and dynamic civil service.
"Strong public institutions are fundamental to achieving inclusive growth and development," said Zafer Mustafaoglu, World Bank Country Director for the Philippines, Malaysia, and Brunei Darussalam. "Global experience shows that countries with high-quality public administrations, including a merit-based civil service, raise more revenues, deliver better services, and create a more supportive environment for inclusive growth."
The US$67.34 million Philippines Civil Service Modernization Project will support the establishment of an integrated, government-wide, web-based Human Resources Management Information System (HRMIS) and payroll system, to improve analytics for workforce planning, career development, succession planning, and training. In addition, it will establish a human resource certification system to standardize and increase the competence of human resource management officers.
The Project will be piloted in around 40 agencies, including the Civil Service Commission, the Department of Budget and Management, the Department of Information and Communications, the National Economic and Development Authority, the Department of Finance, the Department of Education, and the Department of Health. The Civil Service Commission will implement the project, in partnership with the Department of Budget and Management and the Department of Information and Communication Technology.
The project will also help improve the Civil Service Commission's cybersecurity and data privacy measures, improving its ability to handle and recover from cyberthreats and incidents while continuing to perform its essential functions.
The system will be hosted on the government's central cloud and data center infrastructure, designed to withstand, and rapidly recover from a variety of disruptions, faults, or attacks. This will avoid risks brought about by natural disasters - which the Philippines is vulnerable to due to its geographic location - that can periodically affect administrative records, hinder communication and decision making, and disrupt government operations and public service delivery.
"The digitization of HR records and the implementation of the HRMIS will enhance the government's resilience to climate-related disasters by minimizing the risk of service interruptions, delays, and loss of information, enabling continuous and effective public service delivery in times of shocks and disaster events," said Davit Melikyan, World Bank Task Team Leader.
Personnel services account for around 28 percent of the Philippines' national government budget expenditure between 2020 and 2023. In 2023, the country's civil service included 2.18 million plantilla (establishment) positions (almost 2 million of which were filled) and over 830,000 employees hired through job orders and service contracts.
This new system will allow budgeting based on the actual number of staff rather than plantilla positions, which will help manage cash better and save the government money. It will also improve the forecasting of salary expenses, increase transparency, and provide better information for managing payroll across the government.
