Villanueva questions Tugade over unfilled positions at DOTr

Senator Joel Villanueva on Tuesday questioned Transportation chief Arthur Tugade over the high number of unfilled positions in the Department of Transportation (DOTr) as well as the reasons behind the agency's low obligation rate.

It was disclosed in a Senate hearing that the DOTr only filled 16,573 positions, of whom 8,514 are permanent employees. The agency is authorized to employ 25,274 individuals.

“We learned that a substantial number of personnel hired by the DOTr are still contracts of service or consultancies. We learned from them that there have been little to no additional allocation of permanent positions, even during the current administration of the Department. Bakit po ba napakaraming permanent positions ang hindi napupuno sa DOTr?” Villanueva asked.

In response, Tugade noted that they find it hard to fill the permanent positions because of the low salary grade being offered to applicants.

The DOTr said it hopes to resolve the issue through their ongoing Rationalization and Reorganization Program, which includes "sustainable capacity-building and training, coordination with the Department of Budget Management to adjust the salary grades of offered positions to make them competitive, and coordination with the Civil Service Commission to streamline the requirements for permanent positions."

The senator, moreover, asked DOTr about its low utilization rate of its budget of only 28 percent.

“Given the problems of our air transport and land transportation systems, this low obligation rate is truly a pressing matter. Could you explain to this Committee what were the factors that led to such a low rate of obligation?” Villanueva asked.

Tugade said this was due to procurement and bidding of awards' happening during third and fourth quarters of the year, and said that it has nothing to do with the DOTr’s "absorptive capacity." — BM, GMA News