CSC: Cap on gov’t workers under contracts, job orders must be studied

MANILA, Philippines — The Civil Service Commission (CRS) on Tuesday said that caps of employees under Job Order (JO) and Contract of Service (COS) in government agencies must be studied after lawmakers raised concern of its rising number.

During the House committee on appropriations’ briefing on the CSC’s proposed budget in 2027, Commissioner Ryan Alvin Acosta said that the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) should assess the relevance of the Personal Services (PS) limitations on local government units (LGUs) to regulate workers under JO and COS.

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

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“And they should coordinate with DBM (Department of Budget Management) on how to use this PS cap to administer or to regulate the number of COS in LGUs. Each LGU has unique needs and unique capacities,” Acosta added.

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(“And they should coordinate with DBM (Department of Budget Management) on how to use this PS cap to administer or to regulate the number of COS in LGUs. Each LGU has unique needs and unique capacities,”)

READ: Mark Villar urges finance agencies to back tax relief bill, study benefits

Acosta’s remarks are in response to the concern raised by Kamanggagawa party-list Rep. Elijah San Fernando on the increasing number of government non-permanent contractual workers. 

The lawmaker further said that some government employees who work for more than five years remained contractual.

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“It is high time po, maganda na meron pong mga nailatag na mga proposals ang Civil Service Commission para matugunan itong problema sa patuloy na paglaki ng bilang ng mga job orders and contract of service workers natin,” San Fernando stressed.

(“It is high time—and it is good—that the Civil Service Commission has laid out proposals to address the problem of the continuously rising number of job orders and contract-of-service workers,”)

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According to the CSC, the Department of Public Works and Highways has the largest number of non-permanent contractual workers with more than 44,000. 

Also included in the government agencies with the highest number of contractual workers employed are the Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and the Department of Education.

Acosta noted that the common ground of these agencies are involved in social welfare programs and projects.

He said that a factor in the rising number of contractual low-rank workers is because of mandatory department head positions that are beyond the LGUs capacity.

“So, dahil may mga mandatory na matataas na position na hindi kaya sa budget ng LGU na mag-create ng mga ganitong position, hindi nagagawan ng plantilla positions ng ibang LGUs ‘yong mga utility nila na ang tagal nang nagtatrabaho sa kanila,” he explained.

(“So, because there are mandatory high-level positions that the LGU budget cannot accommodate, some LGUs are unable to create plantilla positions for their utility staff who have been working for them for a long time,”)

He added that the agency is currently studying positions that may be considered optional to lessen mandatory roles.

In this way, low-income LGUs may hire or create more plantilla positions for long-serving JO and CO employees, the commissioner said.

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Acosta, moreover, suggested the establishment of an optimization committee to strengthen oversight in government agencies against the possible abuse in the employment of workers under COS and JO. /mr