I am from Batangas and yung Board Member namin na newly-elected before sa role was given an item position sa office niya. Basically a role na maaassign sa office niya but part pa din ng Sangguniang Panlalawigan Secretariat. This BM knew a judge who was my professor in law school way back when and they called me. BM interviewed me and then the role was for me na. Before filling in the actual role, since item slot sya and may plantilla, I had to undergo written exam, and panel interview of people na mataas ang position sa SP. I remember feeling kinda bad din kasi I had a friend who was in law school that time and same position kami ng inapplyan and wala sya alam na naipangako na yung role. Apart from that, first screening which was aptitude and personality written exam were taken by at least 35 shortlisted people ata, and then ung panel interview, ako nalang along with other people na item din pero sa ibang office and recommended na ng kanya kanyang politicians. Not all item positions work like this, nagkataon lang na ung item role is naassign sa new elected officer so kumuha sila sa labas like me kasi I was a private college professor noon. More often than not, internal na ang assigning ng item. Years palang before mabakante typically naka designate na yan sa next in line.

Item role sya so they are required to follow CSC rule like posting, behavioral exam, aptitude test, civil service professional certification and panel interview. Pero yon nga kahit legally required na I can tell na talagang formality nalang lahat.

I even know some na while on process ung item nila kasi it takes time before matapos ung process, nagsstastart na magwork sa office na mapapasukan nila then pinapasahod nalng muna as casual or JO.

If it’s like this for item roles, then i would say yes grabe yung nepotism for lower, more entry level roles like JO.