EQUAL ACCESS TO PUBLIC SERVICE

CSC Chairman Ricardo L. Saludo was once a fellow broadcaster of Usec. Robert T. Rivera in a radio program Pilipinas Ngayon being aired at Radyo ng Bayan.

When he was appointed Chairman of CSC, Press Secretary Cerge Remonde, said:

"Chairman Saludo has solid plans and strategies to realize his vision. His plans and strategies include the completion of the third phase of the salary standardization law, narrowing the gap between the salaries of government workers and those in the private sector, strengthening meritocracy in government and intelligently applying media and information and communications technologies to promote responsiveness, efficiency and integrity in government.

"While he has set grand aspirations for himself and the civil service, Chairman Saludo keeps his feet firmly on the ground. He knows that by himself, he can only do so much.

"Chairman Saludo acknowledges that alone, he cannot make all the changes in the age-old ways, structures, policies and practices in the Philippine civil service.

"This outlook is buoyed by his steadfast belief that there are many more like him in the over a million-person strong civil service, and the millions more outside the formal government structure, who share his vision and aspirations, and that given the opportunity, these like-minded individuals would move as one to make the vision of a MERCI-ful civil service a reality. "

True to his word, right after he took his oath of office, CSC Chairman Saludo established the "PAMANANG LINGKOD BAYAN AND SCHOLARSHIP FUND" to provide scholarship for the dependents of civilian employees who died in line of duty. He advocated for the passage of the Salary Standardization Law III and in less than a year after he was appointed, SSL III was passed into law.

CSC Chairman Saludo is also one of the many officials in government who stands on critical issues advocating for the protection of human rights, freedom of expression and equal access to public service, when he addressed the 60th Anniversary Celebration of the Universal Declaration on Human Rights: