Senate employees will not lose jobs under federal system —Koko Pimentel

Senator Aquilino Pimentel III assured Senate employees Monday that they will not lose their jobs if ever the shift to the federal system of government will push through.

"Do not worry too much about the shift to the federal system of government as there will still be a legislature under that system," Pimentel said in his speech during the flag-raising ceremony at the Senate.

Pimentel is the president of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan which fielded Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte in the May 2016 presidential polls. He is the only partymate of Duterte in the Senate.

Both Pimentel and Duterte are staunch advocates of federalism.

The senator said under both the presidential and parliamentary forms of government in a federal system, law-making will be necessary.

"Under federal-presidential espoused by my father, former Senate President Nene Pimentel, there will still be a Philippine Senate, a much larger one. We will be hiring more employees," he said.

He added: "Under federal-parliamentary espoused by other federalistas, there will still be a legislative branch, the Parliament, which can absorb the current employees of the Philippine Senate."

He further said each regional state will also have its own legislative branch which can benefit from the expertise the employees have developed in the Senate.

"You can choose to work therefore in your own region. Hence, I repeat, there is nothing to worry about," he said.

Pimentel, the possible next Senate President, said he cannot comment yet on administrative matters as he has been a member of the chamber for only four years and 10 months. He said, however, that he will push for the regularization of casual Senate employees.

"Since I am joining the President’s call to end contractualization, I have to be consistent and call for the minimization of contractualization’s equivalent in the public sector, which is casualization," he said.

He said he has been informed that there are more than 200 casual employees in the Senate.

"If and when I become Senate President, I will encourage all our casuals to regularize. I have heard of the union’s programs to assist our casuals become regulars. I will support said programs as we have the same goal. Thank you for helping your fellow workers in government," he said.

Pimentel has the support of at least 16 senators which is enough to elect him to the highest Senate post.

The senator said he will also push for better budgeting practices.

"I have also been informed that the Senate has been returning unused or unneeded money to the National Treasury year after year. This is good because this means that we have not been forcing ourselves to spend unnecessarily, especially at end of year," he said.

"But let us try a better practice. Why not plan the Senate budget better so that it more accurately reflects the true needs of our institution? Let us try not to contribute to the overall bloating of the national budget so that once and for all, the clamor for tax reform, for lower tax rates, can be seriously entertained by the government," he added.

Pimentel also told Senate employees to welcome the change that is already here and be part of it.

"You know, whatever happens, I will still be your friend and I will still pursue outside-of-the-box solutions especially to our long-running inter-generational problems," he said. —KG, GMA News