MANILA, Philippines – PINALAWIG ni Pangulong Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. ang engagement o arrangement ng contract of service (COS) at job order (JO) workers sa gobyerno na nakatakdang mapaso ang kontrata sa Disyembre ngayong taon.
Nabuo ang desisyon na ito ni Pangulong Marcos sa isang sectoral meeting kasama ang Department of Budget and Management (DBM), Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), Civil Service Commission at Commission on Audit, sa Malakanyang araw ng Miyerkules.
Dahil dito, inatasan ni Pangulong Marcos ang mga ahensiya ng gobyerno na i-develop ang kasanayan at kakayahan ng COS at JO workers sa pamamagitan na muling turuan at sanayin ang mga ito sa tulong ng higher learning institutions at makayanan ng mga ito na makapasa sa civil service examination.
“The goal is to build a pool of government workers that can perform and qualify for government’s plantilla positions,” ayon sa Pangulo.
Idagdag pa rito, nais ng Pangulo na magsagawa ng masusing pag-aaral ang mga ahensiya ng gobyerno sa kasalukuyang estado o katayuan ng government workforce, kabilang na ang COS at JOs.
“Pag-aralan natin, just look at the numbers, the data on average, government agencies. How many of their employees are contractual?” dagdag na pahayag ng Punong Ehekutibo.
“How many items are in their plantilla proper are not filled? How many are contractual as a percentage of the total number of employees? Kasi the percentages are one of the most important. Then titingnan natin is average. [It will] give us an idea how people are using the system,” aniya pa rin.
Ang COS ay tumutukoy sa “engagement of the services of an individual, private firm, other government agency, non-government agency, or international organization as a consultant, learning service provider or technical expert to undertake a special project or job within a specific period.”
Ang JO, sa kabilang banda ay tumutukoy sa piece work (pakyaw), intermittent o emergency jobs na isasakatuparan at gagawin sa maiksing panahon at para sa “specific piece of job.”
Nauna rito, itinatag ng Civil Service Commission (CSC)-Commission on Audit (COA)-DBM Joint Circular (JC) No. 1, s. 2017, ang rules and regulations na magsisilbing gabay para sa pag-hire ng COS at JO workers sa gobyerno hanggang Disyembre 31, 2018.
“Subsequent issuances such as COA-DBM JC No. 2, s. 2020 and COA-DBM JC No. 2, s. 2022, extended the transitional period for the engagement of COS and JO workers to December 31, 2022 and December 31, 2024, respectively, to allow government agencies to reassess their organizational and staffing requirements,” ayon sa ulat.
“Since the issuance of CSC-COA-DBM JC No. 1, s. 2017, the number of COS and JO workers in the government have increased,” ayon pa rin sa ulat.
“As of June 30” ng nakaraang taon, mayroong 29.68% (832,812) ng mga manggagawa sa gobyerno ang COS at JO workers, sinasabing 29.71% ang itinaas mula 2022.
Samantala, ang ‘top five’ na ahensiya ng pamahalaan na may pinakamataas na bilang ng COS at JO workers ay ang Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), 29,275; Department of Health (DOH), 18,264; Department of Education (DepEd), 15,143; Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), 13,770; at Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), 10,990.
At sa nalalapit na expiration ng transitional period sa Disyembre 31, 2024, nanganganib na mawalan ng trabaho ang mga COS at JO workers na mayroong hawak na iba’t ibang government projects at may ginagampanan na regular functions sa tanggapan o departamento. Kris Jose
