Workers’ woes not solved by extended contracts — Bohol lawmaker

THE STATE should look to resolving the underlying problems hounding government contractual workers instead of just extending their contracts, which is not a solution, a lawmaker from Bohol said on “(Extending) means the underlying problems and situations of contractual workers in government remain unsolved by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Department of Budget and Management,” Bohol Rep. Kristine Alexis Besas-Tutor said in a statement.

Last week, President Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. ordered government agencies to extend the tenure of contractual and job order government workers until the end of 2025.

The government should look into formulating specific solutions for contractual government workers in local government units (LGUs), national government agencies, and government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), Ms. Tutor said

“A one-size-fits-all solution will not work, but three sets of solutions calibrated to match these three sets of employment situations of government ‘contractuals’ could work,” she added.

The CSC should consider a law that factors in the experience and competency of government officials who are ineligible for plantilla positions due to deficiencies in educational attainment, Ms. Tutor said.

“Equivalency already exists as an established means to “substitute” years of experience and other factors,” she said. “CSC should develop its equivalency system and align it to the equivalency systems of CHED (Commission on Higher Education) and DepEd (Department of Education).” — Kenneth Christiane L. Basilio