Workers wary of government optimization law

MANILA, Philippines — Labor coalition NAGKAISA yesterday expressed concern that the recent signing of the Government Optimization Act could lead to the mass layoff of public employees.

NAGKAISA urged Congress and the Civil Service Commission to put in place necessary safeguards to ensure that government rightsizing will not be a cover for mass layoffs or further contractualization in the public sector.

“The government must not optimize at the expense of its workers. True reform means efficiency with justice, and productivity with fairness,” NAGKAISA chair Sonny Matula said.

He noted that the newly signed Republic Act No. 12231 or the Government Optimization Act grants the President sweeping powers to reorganize, merge or abolish agencies under the executive branch.

Matula said the rightsizing and streamlining in the past merely trimmed regular workers but left the problem of poor government services and low-quality jobs.

According to Matula, almost 30 percent of public employees are under job order or contractual employment despite working in the government for decades.

“They remain the most vulnerable to rightsizing. To ignore them is to erase decades of sacrifice,” Matula said.

He further flagged the “unjust formula” for separation incentives, including zero benefits for those who worked for less than five years.

He proposed the fairer formula of one-month separation pay per year of service in addition to the Government Service Insurance System benefits, regardless of tenure.