The Philippine civil service has a chequered history. After the fall of Marcos, the civil service was purged, its commitment to essentially Weberian bureaucratic ideals restored, tenure introduced and salaries raised. Periodic attempts have been made to introduce modern practices since then, adopting what has been in effect New Public Management prescriptions. Some progress has been made over the last thirty years but change has often proved to be superficial and temporary. Legislation, elaborate systems of oversight and the clarification of rules, roles, responsibilities and functions – even if technically correct and perfectly drafted – only mean something if a high degree of probity and organizational loyalty already exists. Unquestionably, the bureaucracy lies at some distance from a proper condition of formality and is still widely regarded as an extension of factionalized political elites. But do conventional stocks of formal procedure, rules, legislation and ‘best practice’ offer solutions? Or is accommodating and building on existing informal practice essential if the Philippine civil service is to be transformed thoughtfully and imaginatively, and its efficacy improved?