MANILA — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s order to suspend the implementation of two performance evaluation schemes pending their review is not seen to cause delays in the distribution of performance-based bonuses to qualified government workers, the Civil Service Commission (CSC) said Monday. 

CSC Chairperson Karlo Nograles said the review order is a “welcome development”, adding that it is important to remove redundancies in the system.

“They’re just reviewing it to finalize the parameters, make sure walang redundancies, streamline even the processes itself. There maybe agencies, government offices that have some concerns. This may be the right time para ma-voice out ‘yung concerns. Some are saying masyadong mahirap. Some are saying it’s hard to reach the goals. Perhaps this is the right time para mailabas ang ganyang klaseng feedback to process the inputs from the different agencies and then come up with something more relevant, particularly with the new Philippine Development Plan and the new goals of this administration moving forward,” the CSC Chair explained.

 “I think it’s a welcome development. Ang importante lang sigurong malaman ng ating mga kababayan ay hindi naman ititigil o isa-stop ang PBB… I don’t foresee that there will be a delay. Because right now… many agencies are still in the process of submitting the requirements. I think a six-month review is enough time and leeway naman to come up with the… amended or enhanced guidelines,” Nograles added.

Last week, Marcos Jr. suspended the implementation of an administrative order that established a unified and integrated Results-Based Performance Management System, and the implementation of an executive order that adopted a Performance-Based Incentive System in government, consisting of the Productivity Enhancement Incentive and the Performance-Based Bonus. The President also ordered the review, streamlining and harmonization of the two systems.

The Palace said the RBPMS and the PBI System have been redundant with the internal and external performance audit and evaluation systems of the government, and lacked a review mechanism. Compliance is also said to have been burdensome, bureaucratic, laborious and time consuming for government agencies.

A technical working group will “integrate, streamline and align the new government performance management system with the government internal audit program and activities,” and is expected to submit their recommendations to the President within six months.

House Deputy Minority Leader and ACT Teachers Party-list Rep. France Castro welcomed the President’s move, and called for the abolition of the RPMS for teachers.

"We support the review of these bureaucratic performance management systems that have only burdened our teachers with more paperwork instead of improving their well-being and quality of instruction," Castro said in a statement.

"However, we maintain that the RPMS for teachers should be abolished entirely, not just suspended, as well as other systems that are abusive of government workers. The system is fundamentally flawed as it imposes unreasonable demands on our teachers who are already overworked and underpaid. We also call for the abolition of the Strategic Performance Management System (SPMS) that links employee performance with organizational performance for much the same reason," she added.

"Our teachers have long complained about the heavy documentation requirements, unrealistic targets, and discriminatory performance-based bonuses under this system. It is high time we listen to their grievances and dismantle these oppressive policies," the lawmaker said.

The RPMS requires public school teachers to submit extensive documentation like lesson plans, instructional materials, and portfolios to evaluate their performance based on standards set by DepEd orders, according to ACT Teachers Party List.