No retrenchment in rightsizing – DOLE chief

Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma (Photo from the Facebook account of the DOLE)

MANILA, Philippines — Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma asked state workers not to fear the Marcos administration’s plan to “rightsize” the bureaucracy, saying this does not automatically mean retrenchment.

A career official of the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole) who also served in big private corporations before rejoining the department, Laguesma said increasing the number of jobless Filipinos “is not the goal of the government.”

“When you talk of streamlining, it’s all about making work in a business [establishment] easier and fruitful,” he said.

On the other hand, structural reforms imply changes to the way the government works. I don’t see downsizing of the workforce in those definitions,” he stressed.

“Let’s be more positive with rightsizing where the possibility of transferring [from one government office to another] or even hiring more people is very high,” he continued.

State workers’ unions have denounced the rightsizing proposal after Budget Secretary Amenah Pangandaman said removing just 5 percent of redundant government offices and positions could result in P14.8 billion savings in the manpower services budget.

According to the Department of Budget and Management, the bureaucracy has 2 million employees across 187 agencies and government-owned and -controlled corporations.

‘Ill-timed, unfair’

The Public Services Labor Independent Confederation, which represents over 114,000 rank-and-file state employees, and the Confederation for Unity Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees said the plan was ill-timed and unfair to government workers.

But Laguesma assured unions that “whatever happens, Dole will always champion the security and safety of our workers, whether they are government servants or employees of private institutions.”

Sen. Bong Revilla, who is expected to retain control of the committee on civil service, government reorganization, and professional regulation in the 19th Congress, also urged the executive department not to implement its rightsizing plan at the expense of government workers.

“We support the government in rightsizing the bureaucracy, but not at the expense of our hardworking civil servants. Their jobs should not be threatened,” Revilla said in a statement.

The senator said the plan to rationalize the bureaucracy was “laudable.”

“However, it should not be done at the expense of hardworking government employees whose jobs will be put at risk,” he said.

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