Are Pagcor employees under the Civil Service?

Based on the 1987 Constitution, which expressly provides that the civil
service embraces all branches, subdivisions, instrumentalities, and agencies
of government including government-owned or controlled corporations with
charters. [Article IX, Section B, 2(1)]. The civil service system under the
Constitution covers government-owned and controlled corporations with
original charters.
Since Pagcor is a government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC)
created under P.D. 1869 on July 11, 1983 [Pagcor vs. CA], consequentially its
employees are covered by the Civil Service Law.
May employees of Pagcor form associations?
There are three (3) provisions in the 1987 Constitution which serve as bases
for answering the question. The first is Article III, section 8, which guarantees
the right of all workers, including those employed in the public and
private sectors, to form unions, associations, or societies.The
second is Article IX, section 2(5), which guarantees the right of government
employees to self-organization which shall not be denied to them. And the
third is Article XIII, section 3 which guarantees that theState shall afford
full protection to labor
From these it is clear that they can unionize. The Constitution now provides
for the right of government workers to form unions which is not a civil or
political right but a social and economic right. The Supreme Court has
held, however, that government employees may not resort to strikes,
walkouts, and other temporary work stoppages to pressure the government
to accede to its demands [SSS vs. CA]. The proper venue for their grievances
is in the halls of Congress.
Since the terms and conditions of their employment are fixed by law, their
remedy is to ask Congress to pass necessary laws to improve the terms and
conditions of their employment. They may, however, forms associations and
unions as provided by the 1987 Constitution.
Therefore, it is safe to say that the law does not prohibit the forming of
unions or associations by Pagcor employees