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Villanueva raises issue of contractualization in government

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ON THE PRESERVATION OF SIERRA MADRE MOUNTAIN RANGES: Sen. Joel Villanueva, during the hybrid briefing on the proposed P23 billion budget of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Tuesday, October 11, 2022, notes the significance of preserving the Sierra Madre mountain range for slowing down flooding and reducing typhoon-related calamities. The Sierra Madre, the longest mountain range in the Philippines, spans over 540 kilometers. It runs from the province of Cagayan down to the province of Quezon. “I was listening attentively to the questions raised in your initiatives in order to preserve and appreciate the presence of our Sierra Madre. I think, we are all aware of what happened during the last super typhoon and Sierra Madre, which stretches for 500 kilometers, has shielded the entire Luzon – Metro Manila, Cagayan, Bulacan, Isabela, Nueva, Vizcaya, Nueva Ecija, Quirino, Aurora, Quezon, Rizal and Laguna. It stabilizes the water flow, tries to prevent typhoon-related calamities and provides a path for slowing down and often taking the impact of the typhoon. The rugged mountain slopes can mitigate strong winds. The forest also absorbed the heavy rains,” Villanueva said, as he asked DENR officials the fund to be allocated from the agency’s proposed budget for the conservation and management of the mountain range. DENR Usec. Analiza Rebuelta-Teh said the budget allocated for the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park, which is situated at the northern part of the range in Isabela, for 2023 is P9.9 million. (Voltaire F. Domingo / Senate PRIB)

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(FILE) Sen. Joel Villanueva. (Voltaire F. Domingo / Senate PRIB)

MANILA, Philippines – Senate Majority Leader Joel Villanueva on Saturday urged the government to address the longstanding issues of contractualization and unfilled government positions.

According to Villanueva, there are at present 642,077 Job Order (JO) or Contract of Service (COS) workers in the government.

“We have been raising the issue of unfilled positions in government during budget hearings since we became a senator in 2016, and the number of JOs and COS workers in government remains a problem. It’s about time that we address the issue of contractualization in government,” Villanueva said.

Villanueva said that despite the high number of CO and COS employees, there are still 170,688 vacant positions in government.

Citing data from the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Villanueva said the following government agencies have the most number of JO and COS employees:

Villanueva added that these agencies also have thousands of unfilled positions. DepEd has 47,034 vacancies and the DOH has 21,038. This is followed by the DPWH at 3,180, the DENR at 2,430 and the DSWD at 381.

According to Villanueva, the JO and COS employees are not qualified to apply for permanent government positions despite the high number of vacancies.

Meanwhile, Villanueva lauded the CSC for giving JOs and COS a “preferential rating” in the next civil service examination, which allows their years in government service to be considered when they take the test.

“This is a welcome development on the part of the CSC to secure jobs for JO and COS workers in the government. Let’s end endo in government once and for all,” Villanueva said.

In July, Villanueva filed the Senate Bill No. 568 or the Skills Certificate Equivalency Program Act which would institutionalize the Skills Certificate Equivalency Program, a partnership between the Technical Education And Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and the CSC.

The senator and former  TESDA head also filed Senate Bill No. 131 or the Civil Service Security of Tenure Act in the same month, which would provide tenure and automatic civil service eligibility for contractual employees who have served five years in government.

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/MUF
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