National athletes, soon, will be Civil Service eligible

NATIONAL athletes will have a chance to acquire professional and subprofessional eligibility soon following discussions between the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Wednesday.

In a courtesy visit at the Rizal Memorial

Sports Complex, CSC Commissioner Aileen Lizada proposed the possibility of granting eligibility to national athletes who achieve podium finishes in PSC-recognized international competitions.

“With the success of our national athletes in recent competitions, we wanted to honor their achievements and legacy with plans on issuing special eligibility, which will help them in their future endeavors as Filipino citizens,” Lizada said.

“We thank the CSC for this initiative in supporting our national athletes. This future development will not only recognize their success, but will also help them as they serve the country through sports, may it be in local

government units and the national government,” PSC Chairman William Ramirez said.

Ramirez said that the crafting of terms of the agreement will be derived from existing policies under Republic Act 6847, or the Philippine Sports Commission Act and Republic Act 2260, also known as Civil Service Act of 1959.

“The terms and conditions of the agreement are yet to be determined, but we are positive that with special laws and issuance policies from the CSC, our athletes will be granted of eligibility,”Ramirez said.

Under the Civil Service Act, Subprofessional Eligibility qualifies applicants for first level positions in government, such as clerical, trade and custodial service positions which require less than four years of college education.

Professional Eligibility, on the other hand, qualifies an individual for first and second level positions, such as professional, technical and scientific positions that require four years of college education.

Last year, Ramirez signed a Memorandumof-Agreement with the Social Security System to ensure the protection of all national athletes and coaches.