Considering how low the salaries of contractual, job order and non-plantilla personnel of the government get aside from not being entitled to leave benefits, 13th month pay and other bonuses, there is now a bill that will help them get posted in plantilla items so they can enjoy what permanent employees get.
Rep. Alexie Besas Tutor (Bohol, 3rd district) and chair of the civil service and professional regulations committee of the House, said
“there are hundreds of thousands of contract of service and job order employees waiting for an appointment to plantilla positions.”
HB 7027 provides contractuals, job order and appointed government personnel a way to new posts in plantilla of new, reorganized or merged agencies.
“Government should be able to retain people who have served as appointive officials and as employees with valid appointment because they are already familiar with government policies, operations, and procedures,” said Tutor after delivering her sponsorship speech in the presence of the House plenary.
Rep Tutor noted that in the current law and regulations on government reorganization, “appointive officials and employees who do not have a permanent appointment are not covered by the preference for appointment to new positions in the new approved staffing pattern.”
She explained that agencies are reorganized usually by new law creating a new government agency or by new presidential order approving a reorganization plan in specific departments of agencies or a merger of some government offices into surviving offices.
“If House Bill 7027 becomes law, the appointive officials and employees with valid appointments will be given preference for appointment in the new staffing pattern resulting from a government reorganization, and they would be on equal footing during the reorganization process with officials and employees with permanent appointments,” Rep. Tutor also said.
“If House Bill 7027 becomes law, the appointive officials and employees with valid appointments in any agency affected by government reorganization and from any other agency in government are covered because the bill does not make any distinction on where the valid appointments are situated,” Rep. Tutor added.
During the committee deliberations, the Civil Service Commission and other stakeholders from the public sector groups expressed their ardent support and sought the immediate approval of the bill.
Origins of HB 7027 can be traced to when Republic Act No. 11201 created the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development and when Executive Order No. 58 approved the merger of the Home Guaranty Corporation and the Philippine Export-Import Credit Agency (PHILEXIM) and further renaming the same as Philippine Guarantee Corporation. There are also numerous initiatives from Congress proposing bills on the creation and/or merging of government agencies into one department.
“The key provision HB 7027 is that it allows promotion during reorganization. Kapag isinakatuparan na kasi ang proseso ng reorganization sa serbisyo sibil, tatlo ang maaaring kahinatnan ng isang empleyado:
a. retention to current post or transfer to another post of comparable rank;
b. promotion to a higher rank; or
c. shift to a lower rank if there is no comparable rank available.”
“Kapag naisabatas ang HB 7027, mapoproteksyunan pa rin nito ang seguridad sa trabaho ng mga may regular at permanenteng posisyon sa serbisyo sibil sapagkat matitiyak nitong magkakaroon pa rin sila ng trabaho sa pamahalaan sa matapos ang government rightsizing and government reorganization.”
“Hinggil naman sa mga empleyadong may status na non-permanent, ikukunsidera sila sa mga bakanteng posisyon kapag nailagay na sa pwesto ang mga dati nang may regular at permanenteng posisyon.”
“As to those who shall be placed in comparable positions, they do not need to meet the qualification requirements and eligibility. They only need to meet certain requirements and eligibility if the transfer results in a promotion to a higher rank.”
Tags: #HB7027, #govt.workers, #plantillaposts