CSC exams on March 15 suspended over Covid-19

THE CIVIL service examinations for this year has been suspended after President Duterte declared a state of public health emergency, as Covid-19 has already claimed two lives in the country.

The examination was originally scheduled on Sunday, March 15.

“In compliance to Proclamation No. 922 (State Under the Public Health Emergency) of the president (Rodrigo Duterte), we have suspended the examinations all throughout the Philippines,” CSC XI chief human resource specialist Evelyn Yparraguirre said in an interview with TIMES yesterday.

She said that as of now, they are still waiting

for the decision of the CSC central office for the next schedule.

“As of now, we have no idea when will be the examination,” she said.

“The suspension is to preempt the increasing number of Covid-19 cases, and we are in full support of the proclamation,” she said.

An official statement has also been released from the facebook page of CSC on March 10.

“The CS exams was supposed to be held in 66 testing locations nationwide with an estimated total of 293,845 individuals nationwide registered to take the test. Of the figure, an estimated 253,419 will take the Professional Level of exam while an estimated 40,426 will attempt to hurdle the Subprofessional Level. Thus, it is necessary to suspend the exams as a preemptive health measure to mitigate the rise in the number of COVID-19 cases and to support the national and local government units in undertaking appropriate response and measures in a timely manner to curtail and eliminate the COVID-19 threat,” the advisory reads.

In Davao Region, Yparraguirre said that a total of 16,999 examinees registered for the test. Of the total, 14,425 are from Davao City. A total of 1,507 examinees will be taking the exam in Tagum, Davao del Norte, while 1,068 examiners are for Mati, Davao Oriental.

The Professional Regulation Commission (PRC) has also cancelled its examinations that are scheduled during the months of March and April this year.

In their official statement released through their facebook page, the following PRC licensure examinations are cancelled:

* Qualifying Assessment for Foreign Medical Professionals (March 14, 2020)

* Physician Licensure Examination (March 15-16, 2020) * Medical Technologists Licensure Examination (March 18-19, 2020)

* Licensure Examination for Professional Teachers (March 29, 2020)

* Licensure Examination for Electronic Engineers and Electronic Technicians (April1-3, 2020)

* Licensure Examination for Midwives (April 5-6, 2020) * Licensure Examination for Registered Electrical Engineers and Registered Master Electricians (April 14-16, 2020) * Licensure Examination for Pharmacists (April 26-27, 2020) The PRC said that the announcement of the new schedules for the said examinations will be posted on its website and social media accounts.