THE new National Anti-Poverty Commission leadership and some old-time contract-of-service employees who were allegedly “terminated” clashed over the move to clean up the agency’s operations and staffing pattern being implemented by the new administration.
Several Contract of Service (COS) personnel picketed the NAPC office in Quezon City Friday to protest against the decision of Secretary Liza Maza to terminate the contracts of 82 of the agency’s 107 COS personnel, claiming these were without “objective assessment” of their work performance and that this is an abandonment of the Duterte administration’s promise “to end contractualization.”
Joseph Aquino, president of the Kaisahan ng mga Di-Regular na Empleyado ng NAPC (KaDRE) said they are hoping to be informed of the basis for the mass layoff, and the agency’s new plans, staffing requirements and reapplication process, “but the group’s request has fallen on deaf ears.”
“Management conducted one-on-one interviews with the terminated COS staff. Some were offered job positions lower than the position they are currently holding; others were not given any feedback yet,” Aquino said.
“But still, KaDRE’s appeal for a meaningful collective dialogue with Management was not granted; it was not even acknowledged,” he added.
President Rodrigo Duterte had earlier vowed to end contractualization as part of his campaign promises.
The NAPC, however, belied what it called a “misinformation” being circulated in the media on the supposed “termination” of COS personnel at the agency and the “misguided” use of the call to end contractualization or ‘endo’ to argue their position.
“NAPC did not terminate these COS personnel; rather, they were notified that their contracts were set to expire, as stipulated therein, on Sept. 30, 2016. In deference to them, however, they were apprised in these same notification letters of the possibility of being considered for new contracts, should they be interested to apply, upon evaluation of their performance and in consideration to (sic) the needs of the agency to implement its mandate,” the NAPC, one of the line agencies under the Office of the President, said in a statement.
Maza earlier said the downsizing will fix the “swollen bureaucracy” hired during the time of her predecessor Joel Rocamora.
Some 151 consultants and 82 people under contract were paid more than P3.4 million over a nine-month period under the Aquino administration in 2016 alone, “more than double the total organic internal staff of the agency which is only 50,” Maza said.
The NAPC insisted it conducted an “objective assesment” of personnel needed to support the agencies needed to carry over their line functions, saying some groups are trying to undermine the efforts of the current NAPC administration “under the apparent belief they are entitled to their positions.”
“During the past administration, the contracting of COS personnel has contributed to the agency’s bloat over the years, as was the case with the 161 ‘consultants’ recently terminated by NAPC. Nevertheless, the majority of COS positions reviewed so far have been determined as still required by the agency (belying claims that a large number of personnel have been dismissed) and are being processed accordingly, for retention of their current occupants or for posting as vacancies,” the agency said
The agency also blasted the use of the legitimate call of ending contractualization or ‘endo’ in support of their position.
“In pure compensation terms, it is absurd,” the NAPC said.
The NAPC said said COS personnel receive an average professional fee of a little over P31,000 per month, up to a high of P46,000, a far cry from the minimum or below-minimum wages that genuine victims of ‘endo’ typically earn.
“In this sense, as well as in terms of their contractual status, COS personnel are less similar to real ‘contractuals’ as they are to consultants, and have as much an inherent claim to regularization as the latter (none),” the agency said.
“To claim as though their plight and fight are the same as those of contractual workers, who struggle to put food on the table and are systematically oppressed in their employment, is nothing short of shameless.”
Aquino however, urged the Maza to objectively look into their plight.
“The group continues to urge Secretary Maza to renew the contracts of the 82 COS workers based on fair performance evaluation,” he said.
“The group hopes that NAPC will deliver on the administration’s promise to end contractualization, not the workers’ contracts,” he added.