Imee urges CSC to fill up 178,000 vacant gov't posts

Senator Imee Marcos on Thursday urged the Civil Service Commission (CSC) to fill up more than 170,000 vacant positions in the government amid the unemployment problem faced by many Filipinos due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Marcos, chair of the Senate committee on economic affairs, said 178,000 permanent positions in government agencies remain vacant as of August 31, 2020.

"When government positions are left unfilled, the unused budget for hiring personnel are later declared as year-end savings. These suspicious savings become bonuses divided up among agency officials," she said.

Marcos also pointed out that some P7.6 billion from the Miscellaneous Personnel Benefits Fund under the 2020 national budget for hiring of new government personnel also remains unused.

"The CSC will have difficulty justifying its proposed budget for next year if no initiatives are made for better housekeeping," she warned.

Further, Marcos urged the CSC to craft policies that would allow contractual government employees to secure permanent government positions.

"Dapat nang tumigil ang gobyerno sa pagiging pinakamalaking tagataguyod ng endo o end-of-contracct employment. Itigil na na natin ang pang-aabuso at maling pagtrato sa mga contractual employees ng gobyerno na kinukuha lang ang sweldo sa mga miscellaneous at iba pang operating expenses," she said.

Idle funds meant for government posts that continue to be vacant must be removed from proposed agency budgets and be realigned to the government's COVID-19 pandemic response, she added.

The CSC recently announced that it will hold an online job fair from September 14-18, 2020 where applicants may apply for over 700 vacant government positions. -MDM, GMA News