Marcos extends contracts of temporary gov’t workers

CRITICS’ OBSERVATION | The president’s directive comes ahead of the observance of Labor Day on May 1, amid criticisms that the government is the country’s largest employer of contractual employees. (Photo by RICHARD A, REYES | Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has directed government agencies to extend the tenure of their contractual and job order (JO) workers from Dec. 31 this year until the end of 2025.

He gave the instructions during a sectoral meeting in Malacañang on Wednesday with the Department of Budget and Management (DBM), the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), Civil Service Commission (CSC) and Commission on Audit (COA).

READ: Marcos extends term of gov’t workers under contracts of service, job orders

The President’s directive came ahead of the observance of Labor Day on May 1, amid criticisms that the government was the country’s largest employer of contractual employees.

According to the Presidential Communications Office (PCO), up to 29.7 percent or 832,812 of the total government workforce are either contract-of-service (COS) or JO workers.

Original deadline

A joint CSC-COA and DBM joint circular set the limit for the hiring of COS and JOs to Dec. 31, 2022, but this was extended to Dec. 31 this year, supposedly to allow government agencies to reassess their organizational and staffing requirements.

Without Marcos’ order, the said workers handling various government projects and performing regular functions are at risk of losing their jobs with the imminent expiration of the transitional period by year-end, the PCO said.

COS employees refer to those hired as consultants, learning service providers or technical experts for a special project or job within a specific period.

JO workers, on the other hand, are engaged in piece work (pakyaw), intermittent or emergency jobs to be undertaken for a short duration.

Among the top national government agencies with the highest number of COS and JO workers are the Department of Public Works and Highways with 29,275, Department of Health (18,264), Department of Education (15,143), Department of Social Welfare and Development (13,770), and Department of Environment and Natural Resources (10,990).

Training opportunities

Marcos also ordered government agencies to provide training and reeducation opportunities to COS and JO employees, in partnership with colleges and universities, to help them hurdle Civil Service examinations.

With this scheme, the government can build a pool of government workers who are qualified to occupy plantilla positions, the President said.

“Let’s study this measure. Just look at the numbers, the data on average, government agencies: how many of their employees are contractual?” he asked

Marcos also urged agencies to conduct a thorough study of the current state of the government workforce, including the COS and JOs.

“How many items in their plantilla proper are not filled? How many are contractual as a percentage of the total number of employees?” he said.