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(If there are no more inclusions, your honor, may I move for the
approval of the business of the day, as amended.)

Presiding Officer: Any second? Any objection? Hearing no

objection, motion is carried. First Item?

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UNFINISHED BUSINESS
KCB: Thank you, Mr. Presiding Officer, The SUBJECT MATTER
under unfinished business, Your Honor is for the approval of a
PROPOSED RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE HONORABLE CITY
MAYOR JOSEPH SALVADOR TAN TO ENTER INTO AND SIGN A
CONTRACT OF UNDERTAKING WITH ELLEN GRACE M.
CARREON-PASCUAL, ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER III — OFFICE OF
THE CITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR, IN
CONNECTION WITH LATTER'S STUDY PRIVILEGE FOR THE
PURPOSE OF REVIEWING FOR THE 2019 BAR EXAMINATIONS,
EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2019 TO NOVEMBER 30, 2019.

My dear colleagues, pertinent to this legislative matter is Section

68, Rule XVI, Omnibus Rules on Leave (CSC Memorandum Circular
No. 41, s.1998, as amended), which provides for the following
guidelines:
Section 68. Study Leave. Officials and employees,
excluding those in the teaching profession who are
covered by different provisions of law, may be entitled to
study leave subject to the following conditions:
a. The study leave is a time-off from work not
exceeding six (6) months with pay for the purpose
of assisting the qualified officials and employees
to prepare for their BAR or board examinations
or to complete their masteral degree. The leave
shall be covered by a contract between the
beneficiary and the agency head or his
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representative.
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 b. The beneficiary for such leave shall be selected
based on the following qualification requirements:
1) The official/employee must have
graduated with a bachelor’s degree which
consequently requires the passing of
government BAR and board licensure
examinations. For thesis writing or
comprehensive examination, the
official/employee must have completed all
the academic requirements for a masteral
degree.
2) The profession or field of study to be
pursued must be relevant to the agency or
to all the official duties and responsibilities
of the concerned official or employee.
3) Must be a permanent employee.
4) Must have rendered at least two years of
service with at least very satisfactory
performance for the last two rating periods
immediately preceding the application.
5) Must have no pending administrative and
criminal charges.
6) Must not have any current foreign or
local scholarship grant.
7) Must have fulfilled the service obligation
of any previous scholarship and training
contract.

Thus, in order for Ms. ELLEN GRACE to be qualified to avail of

the study leave, she must have complied with all the requisites
stated above. I was assured that she met all the requirements for
her to avail of the study leave privilege.
There might be some query regarding item B.2: The profession or
field of study to be pursued must be relevant to the agency or to
the official duties and responsibilities of the concerned official or
employee. Ms. ELLEN GRACE is currently an ADMINISTRATIVE
OFFICER III at CPDO. To be more specific, whether a degree in LAW
may be considered relevant in the performance of the functions of
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an ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER III, to qualify said BAR examination

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among the examinations covered by the study leave privilege.

 This representation respectfully manifest that a conservative
adherence to the literal import of a particular provision is not
always the general rule. There may be instances when an equitable
construction may be adopted in order to accomplish a greater
purpose. These are instances when the interest of justice calls for a
liberal interpretation of a given law or rule.
I believe that a liberal interpretation of Section 68 of CSC
Memorandum Circular No. 41, s. 1998, as amended, is warranted
in the herein request of Ms. ELLEN GRACE in order to better serve
the purpose of such rule and ultimately, promote justice.
True, a degree in LAW has no direct bearing to the job of an
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER III, however, it may have strong
relevance to the Local Government Unit of Santiago City. It is to be
noted that the provision used the disjunctive "or".
Further, it must also be emphasized that in supporting this
legislative matter, we are providing aspiring professionals not only
the public benefit the agency will derive in terms of the professional
services the employee shall render. Equally important is the
personal and professional growth of an employee in having another
opportunity to pursue further her dreams, without having to worry
about her means of livelihood for the period that she will not be
reporting for work.
It then becomes easy to see that the reason behind the study
leave privilege is to encourage government employees to seek
professional advancement – worry-free. In the pursuit of such, the
grant seeks to assist them by allowing them to devote their full time
and attention to the intricacies of the bar or board examination that
they are going to hurdle. Ultimately, the study leave grant’s
proximate objective is the professionalization of the bureaucracy,
which beneficial effects shall redound to the best interest of both
parties, i.e. the agency-grantor as well as the employee-grantee
concerned.
With all the foregoing premises, I call on every members of the
Sangguniang Panlungsod, to support this legislative measure.
Should there be additional questions, we have here the presence
of the requesting party Ms. ELLEN GRACE M. CARREON-PASCUAL,
ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER III — OFFICE OF THE CITY PLANNING
AND DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR. May I move, Your Honor, to
grant her speaking rights, to discuss to us and further enlighten
this August Body pertaining to this legislative measure.
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Presiding Officer: Any second? Any objection? Hearing none, the
motion is hereby approved. ______________________, please come
forward.

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Presiding Officer: Do you have any further questions? No more?

Anyone who would like to ask question or questions? None? Coun.
Bautista?

Coun. Bautista: Thank you Mr. Presiding Officer. The requesting

party prays for the immediate passage of this resolution,
considering that she will process several documents needed for this
purpose. So, If there are no more queries pertaining to the proposed
measure, may I move, Your Honor, for the approval of the
PROPOSED RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE HONORABLE CITY
MAYOR JOSEPH SALVADOR TAN TO ENTER INTO AND SIGN A
CONTRACT OF UNDERTAKING WITH ELLEN GRACE M.
CARREON-PASCUAL, ADMINISTRATIVE OFFICER III — OFFICE OF
THE CITY PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR, IN
CONNECTION WITH LATTER'S STUDY PRIVILEGE FOR THE
PURPOSE OF REVIEWING FOR THE 2019 BAR EXAMINATIONS,
EFFECTIVE JUNE 1, 2019 TO NOVEMBER 30, 2019, under
suspended rules.

Presiding Officer: Any second? Any objection? Hearing none, the

motion is hereby approved. Proceed on the next item.
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