FALSE: March 2020 CSE examinees ‘automatically pass’ due to COVID-19

Claim: Those who were scheduled to take the civil service exam (CSE) on March 15, 2020 are deemed “automatically passed” due to the COVID-19 crisis.

This claim appeared on a document that circulated on social media, which had the logo of the Philippine Civil Service Commission (CSC) on it. It said that the announcement was in compliance with President Rodrigo Duterte’s Proclamation No. 922.

“THUS; President Duterte announced last May 1, 2020 that all EXAMINEES are automatically passed the said exam both Professional Level and Subprofessional Level. CONGRATULATIONS EXAMINEES MARCH 2020,” the document said.

Claim Check, Facebook’s monitoring tool, flagged at least two posts for verification. It was shared on the platform as early as May 13.

Rating: FALSE

The facts: The CSC did not release the document. On May 13, the Commission said they did not issue any directive to automatically pass registered examinees of the March 15 professional and subprofessional CSE – even if they did not actually take the test.

“The CSC warns the public to IGNORE THE FAKE NEWS circulating online saying that registered examinees of the 15 March 2020 Career Service Examination are automatically deemed passed,” the CSC said on its official Facebook page.

The exam scheduled on March 15 was postponed until further notice due to COVID-19, in compliance with Duterte’s declaration of a state of public health emergency. It was supposed to take place in 66 testing locations nationwide with an estimated total of 293,845 registered examinees.

The Commission added that the CSE is a general ability test that objectively gauges the merit and fitness of an individual for government career service.

“Thus, the CSC has no existing policy on considering examinees of the CSE as ‘passed’ by virtue of incidental factors or circumstances, such as the COVID-19 pandemic,” the CSC said. – Pauline Macaraeg/Rappler.com

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