CESB holds the inaugural session of the 2023 CES Leadership Conclave in Quezon City

Monday | June 05, 2023

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Participants of the 2023 CES Leadership Conclave at the Seasons Ballroom, Luxent Hotel, Quezon City

With the theme, Transcendence: CE50 Leadership Beyond Limits, the inaugural session of the 2023 Career Executive Service (CES) Leadership Conclave took over 200 members of the CES community through a learning journey to achieve the practice of good governance and improved bureaucratic efficiency last May 31, 2023 at the Seasons Ballroom, Luxent Hotel, Quezon City.

Attendees of the Conclave were formally welcomed by the Career Executive Service Board (CESB) Executive Director Maria Marcy Cosare-Ballesteros, CESO II. She encouraged the participants to live by the tenets of transcendent leadership, especially in the volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, and disruptive world that we live in, and to “take to heart our pledge to deeply commit ourselves towards the goal of building a community of equals and an environment of shared humanity.”

The theme, Transcendence: CE50 Leadership Beyond Limits, “beautifully encapsulates our shared vision to overcome challenges, seize trends and opportunities, redefine conventional boundaries, and unlock the vast potential of our leadership abilities,” said Civil Service Commission (CSC) and CESB Chairperson Karlo Alexei B. Nograles in his opening message. He urged the participants “to embrace a brand of leadership that surpasses time, crisis, and challenges, propelling us to exceed limits and to create a lasting impact” bearing in mind that “continuity and stability within the bureaucracy are requisites for us to achieve our goal of transforming the Philippines into a prosperous, inclusive and resilient nation.”

The road to a transcendent bureaucracy

In his keynote address, Department of Labor and Employment Secretary Bienvenido E. Laguesma, firstly congratulated the CES community in the celebration of its golden anniversary since the promulgation of Presidential Decree No. 1.“Times may have changed but there is no more transcendent objective for us in the public sector than what the career service envisioned to be fifty years ago; merit and fitness, competence, accountability, integrity, and commitment to serve are still, and remain to be, the basic foundations of a well-functioning bureaucracy regardless of the times,” he said.

He highlighted having a highly efficient and effective bureaucracy as an element of President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr.’s socioeconomic agenda, as embedded in Chapter 14 of the Philippine Development Plan (PDP) 2023-2028. Especially in the advent of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the pandemic, and climate change, he called for the participants “to be the collective catalyst of the transformation to realize the progressive future that all of us want” by “[making] sure that institutions are alert and responsive to public needs and able to provide the environment that will enable people to realize their best potential.”

While transformation is “naturally daunting, so are the opportunities they create equally empowering.” To transcend is to “[reimagine] the scope and breadth of what public service can be.” Therefore, he cited two areas of opportunities: (1) the underdeveloped potential of combining specialization with convergence, warning of the “dangers of becoming too immersed in our areas [of specialization] that we become indifferent to the equally important areas of development and governance”; and (2) the importance of labor relations by bridging the gap between management and employees, essentially giving respect and honor to the qualifications of employees, uplifting their dignity, and by listening to them, motivating them, engaging them to “identify and diagnose ground level organizational issues and [tapping] their problem-solving potentials to improve internal and frontline services.” He challenged the participants to “lead and actively participate in the discourse for change and transformation” citing the two areas as what he thinks a decent start to achieving a transcendent bureaucracy.

As a parting message, he encouraged the participants to be OBEDIENT: Obedient to the constitution and oath of office; Benevolent, “well-meaning, and kind in the performance of our duties”; Efficient with the budget of the people; “Dedicated to ensure public satisfaction in our delivery of public services”; lead with Integrity “despite the pressures and constraints”; “strive to be a good Example for others to emulate”; No-nonsense, “always [giving] our best and [exhibiting] acceptable behavior”; and Truthful–to be “champions and purveyors of truth”. He reminded them to always exemplify and nourish their oath in the CES Pledge and the Panunumpa ng Lingkod-Bayan which boils down to the principle of public office as a public trust.

Mapping the journey and choosing the vehicle

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Proceeding to the plenary learning sessions, National Economic and Development Authority Undersecretary for Policy and Planning Group Rosemarie G. Edillon, CESO I led the first session with her talk focused on Chapter 14 of the PDP 2023-2028. In her session, she discussed the context and the working environment affecting the PDP and its goals before zooming in on the strategic framework of practicing good governance and improving bureaucratic efficiency and linking it to the six core competencies of the CES.

To address Outcome 3: Government functions, systems, and mechanisms rationalized and strengthened of Chapter 14 of the PDP, Director John Aries S. Macaspac, CESO IV of the Department of Budget and Management Systems and Productivity Improvement Bureau presented the National Government Rightsizing Program (NGRP). He discussed governance and administration issues such as issues on organization and management, personnel issues, and service delivery issues which ultimately necessitate transformational reforms. He also discussed the salient features of the NGRP, and finally, the role of the career executives in the grand scheme of things.

Equipping people

The next sessions of the Conclave focused on addressing Outcome 4: Competent, motivated, agile, and resilient public servants supported.

In her session, Public Servants Hitting the M.A.R.C. (Motivated, Agile, Resilient, Competent), Acting Assistant Commissioner Victoria F. Esber, CESO V of the CSC discussed the principles of and challenges to good governance which can be addressed by learning and development (L&D) interventions. She zoomed in on the essential components of a successful L&D strategy, its alignment to performance requirements, and the 70:20:10 learning model. AsCom Esber also discussed the policy on flexible work arrangements in the government.

Meanwhile, CESB Board Member Milalin S. Javellana discussed Gender Equality, Disability, and Social Inclusion (GEDSI) and Inclusive Leadership. Building on the concepts of diversity and inclusion, she discussed the symptoms of social exclusion, bias, and stereotypes, which ultimately necessitate leaders to not just be intuitive but also rational, inclusive, and sensitive to the needs of people in different situations. She also tackled the six signature traits of inclusive leadership: commitment, courage, cognizance of bias, curiosity, cultural intelligence, and collaboration.

Engaging the passengers and continuously improving the ride

The last two sessions of the 2023 CES Leadership Conclave focused on Outcomes 1 and 2 of Chapter 14 of the PDP: participatory governance deepened, and public accountability and integrity bolstered, respectively.

“Feedback is not just about growing the person but growing together,” Coach Randy A. Esguerra said in his session on managing feedback acknowledging that feedback can be a simple appreciation, but it can also be coaching and evaluation. Through his lively and very insightful discussion on feedback, participants learned the power of feedback and its effects, the value of relationships in giving feedback, and the importance of behavior in accepting feedback.

He also discussed some of the motivations of employees at work: knowledge of what is expected at work, an opportunity to do the best, recognition or praise for doing good, someone who cares about the employee as a person, someone who encourages employee’s development, and materials and equipment needed to do the work.

For the final session of the Conclave, WeSolve Foundation, Inc.’s Executive Director Kenneth Isaiah Ibasco Abante discussed some strategies for “Making Together Work” and reforming the unreformable:

1. Listen to the community to understand the problem.
2. Build consensus with problem owners on organizing principles.
3. Build and share power to win change.
4. Use data to empower problem owners to become problem solvers.
5. Cultivate a community of care.

Director Randy R. Del Rosario from the Department of Public Works and Highways noted that “this one (1) day learning and development activity is truly enriching and beneficial towards better management of respective offices” while Mr. David R. LCruz, Chief of Technology Research and Industry Development of the Department of National Defense said that the program “triggered new ideas to transform agency and be ready for reforms and the future.” Finally, “the program had enriched my knowledge on leadership and good governance powered by the brilliant inputs on social inclusion, diversity and managing feedback. Through this program, it directly represented the voice from the ground and provided a lens on mechanisms to deliver public service,” said Ms. Lovella G. Paragas, Principal II from the Department of Education (DepEd) Tarlac Province.

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(L-R) ED Maria Marcy Cosare-Ballesteros, CESO II, BM Andrea Maila Ordañez, CESO III, DepEd Tarlac SDS Ronnie Mallari, CESO V, DHSUD RD Jennifer Bretaña, BM Milalin Javellana, and BM Luis Meinrado Pañgulayan, CESO I

Hosted by CES eligible Regional Director Jennifer C. Bretaña from the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development - Region 12 and Schools Division Superintendent, Dr. Ronnie S. Mallari, CESO V, from DepEd - Schools Division of Tarlac Province, the 2023 CES Leadership Conclave ended with a call for transcendent leadership in time for the culmination of the CES’ 50th anniversary this November 2023.