source: abs-cbnnews.com

A top Career Executive Service Board (CESB) official on Thursday said President Benigno Aquino III's first memorandum circular (MC) will not result in the collapse of the bureaucracy, but added that the Palace intends to revise it.

CESB executive director Antonette Allones made the assurance even as she confirmed that only half of the available career executive positions can be occupied by career executive service officers (CESO).

Hours after his inauguration on Wednesday, President Aquino declared "all non-career executive service positions vacant as of 30 June 2010 and extended "the services of employees whose contracts expire" on the same date.

There were fears that wiping out hundreds of political appointees during President Arroyo's term would result in the collapse of the bureaucracy.

Allones admitted that there are a total of 6,760 career executive positions in government, but there are only around 3,800 CESOs.

She, however, clarified that only the presidential appointees or "co-terminus" appointees of the former president are immediately affected by the memorandum circular.

She said senior government officials, who are civil service eligible, holding top government positions, were ordered to stay in a hold-over capacity until July 31.

She added that there is hope that President Aquino will re-appoint or promote the civil service eligible officials to occupy positions that cannot be fully filled up by CESOs.

Allones said President Aquino's first memorandum circular seeks to dissolve the "over-appointments" of the past administration.

She cited for example the Department of National Defense, which has 7 undersecretaries. She said that under the law, the defense department should only have 3 undersecretaries.

"The excess of four is already declared vacant or dissolved," the CESB official said.

Allones clarified that the memorandum circular announced by presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda was not yet final.

She said that based on her initial meeting with the staff of newly-appointed Executive Secretary Paquito "Jojo" Ochoa, Malacañang will revise the memorandum circular to clarify the ambiguous provisions.

She said she will submit a list of qualified government executives to Ochoa. The list will be passed on to President Aquino for his reference.

Allones said that the law also allows Aquino or his Cabinet secretaries to make at least 1 political appointee.