That Dreadful EO366
THAT DREADFUL EO366
I am quite upset now. With myself, more than the others who allowed this to happen to our colleagues. More than four years of waiting to be appointed to their permanent position-items, they have yet to wait longer. To me, this is most unfair. Especially in my province, when the people who have worked their butt off for so many years to better the lives of our farmers, are the ones affected.
I look back at the past four years, and try to put some sense into what we have done. I say, ‘we’, because I am part of the management which saw through the processes which we were directed to by the bosses, to implement this dreadful EO366, or the government’s rationalization plan. Simply put, the executive order speaks of downsizing of government personnel; that it is imperative to ‘let go’ of some of its people as there are positions in all departments which are redundant, or no longer serve the purpose for which these were created in present times. Our government aims to be of more efficient service to its constituents at the same time make optimal use of its resources for personnel services.
I found no sense in what we have done in our agency, in particular. For starters, the implementing rules and regulations of the executive order was unique to the DAR eg., the Co-Terminus with the Incumbent (CTI) status of employees was approved by the Department of Budget and Management, to my mind, to serve as a hedge for the right to security of tenure of government employees as cited in the Philippine Constitution. The provision which allows for that in the rules has been wrongly taken by the employees as an option, because of their management’s assurance that they will continue to receive their salaries, even when they are no longer part of the organic DAR Approved Staffing Pattern or ASP. In Ilocos Sur, for instance, there should be only about thirty personnel to man the provincial office, yet since the option of staying on CTI-status was presented to the employees, the office now has sixty-one warm bodies. Several of those who opted for the same status expressed their intention to be part of the Civil Service Commission ‘pool’, another option presented to them, so that the Commission would match their qualifications and skills to positions open in other agencies. The Commission did not allow them to be part of a ‘pool’, since it is their contention that no guidelines were issued relative to this role. So, they are back with DAR.
The processes, the systems, the provisions of the law, the constitution, the approval of the DAR’s rationalization plan by the budget department, and now the new administration’s view and policies, have been entangled in one web of mess. In the meantime, caught in the web, hanging on for their dear lives are the 800 or so employees whose appointments were invalidated, and those who are waiting in the wings to be placed and promoted.
This brings me to my second point: our apparent disregard for the plight of our colleagues who are waiting, and that of their families. I was told that out of the 800 or so employees whose appointments were invalidated by the Civil Service Commission, one passed away waiting for his appointment. He did not see the day that his appointment would be rendered valid. That is really sad. I was not remiss in letting our bosses know this: we were all making decisions which would affect people’s lives and their families’. We are all so busy with adherence to the rules, which, I would point out, were interpreted by about a hundred brilliant minds, interpretations all different from the other. So one memorandum would be issued about how the process would work, and then another would be issued about an hour later, changing the rules when we at the field offices all along thought that we already did our part, and followed instructions to the letter.
The last issue I have with all these is the fact that we at the field offices are beholden, yes, beholden, to the pace, the strength and firmness of decisions made, and the political will of our bosses to get this rationalization plan finally done, not just in a piece of paper, but in its true meaning.
You see, I blame myself everyday. Because I followed orders, I followed rules, I followed directives. Now, I see myself as part of the management that whipped its own people. I have shed many tears for my colleagues in my province, my region, mainly for my part in their long and trecherous wait for their ‘time’. They say patience is a virtue. Many console themselves by saying, all will fall into place in God’s time. I could not agree more. But then again, God, and I am speaking of my God, would perhaps give us all a dressing-down if only He can descend from the heavens. And we deserve that.
This EO366, I say, is bad for the soul. It has brought out the worst in people: friendships were broken, relationships were strained, pride and greed reared their ugly heads, at what cost? At the moment, none. Nothing worth all the heartache, the sorrow, the disturbed nights. I am awed, however, by my colleagues in the province in which I work. Despite all the uncertainties, they tread on. They continue to give their best to their work, their commitment unwavering. At times I feel that they have given up with their ‘waiting for their time’, or that they are now resigned to the fact that there will no longer be light at the end of the tunnel for them. So they do what they can, day after day, because that is the job. That is their calling, their responsibility, their commitment.
The question is, can we as their management, match their commitment to the job by ending this game of directing field offices to proceed with the processes, then again asked to wait, and yet again, told to proceed, only to be told the day after that we are to wait, yes, again. I ask because I rose from the ranks. I know how it feels to be where they all are now. And I say, these are the times when I cannot hold my head high and proudly tell them that I did my best for them. Because I did not. No, let me correct that: I cannot. My hands are tied to the decisions of my bosses.
Clarissa Villalba
Nenette C. Madriaga
Rhoda Gagto
Gemma Tablada
Carina Ridao-Muñoz
I am quite upset now. With myself, more than the others who allowed this to happen to our colleagues. More than four years of waiting to be appointed to their permanent position-items, they have yet to wait longer. To me, this is most unfair. Especially in my province, when the people who have worked their butt off for so many years to better the lives of our farmers, are the ones affected.
I look back at the past four years, and try to put some sense into what we have done. I say, ‘we’, because I am part of the management which saw through the processes which we were directed to by the bosses, to implement this dreadful EO366, or the government’s rationalization plan. Simply put, the executive order speaks of downsizing of government personnel; that it is imperative to ‘let go’ of some of its people as there are positions in all departments which are redundant, or no longer serve the purpose for which these were created in present times. Our government aims to be of more efficient service to its constituents at the same time make optimal use of its resources for personnel services.
I found no sense in what we have done in our agency, in particular. For starters, the implementing rules and regulations of the executive order was unique to the DAR eg., the Co-Terminus with the Incumbent (CTI) status of employees was approved by the Department of Budget and Management, to my mind, to serve as a hedge for the right to security of tenure of government employees as cited in the Philippine Constitution. The provision which allows for that in the rules has been wrongly taken by the employees as an option, because of their management’s assurance that they will continue to receive their salaries, even when they are no longer part of the organic DAR Approved Staffing Pattern or ASP. In Ilocos Sur, for instance, there should be only about thirty personnel to man the provincial office, yet since the option of staying on CTI-status was presented to the employees, the office now has sixty-one warm bodies. Several of those who opted for the same status expressed their intention to be part of the Civil Service Commission ‘pool’, another option presented to them, so that the Commission would match their qualifications and skills to positions open in other agencies. The Commission did not allow them to be part of a ‘pool’, since it is their contention that no guidelines were issued relative to this role. So, they are back with DAR.
The processes, the systems, the provisions of the law, the constitution, the approval of the DAR’s rationalization plan by the budget department, and now the new administration’s view and policies, have been entangled in one web of mess. In the meantime, caught in the web, hanging on for their dear lives are the 800 or so employees whose appointments were invalidated, and those who are waiting in the wings to be placed and promoted.
This brings me to my second point: our apparent disregard for the plight of our colleagues who are waiting, and that of their families. I was told that out of the 800 or so employees whose appointments were invalidated by the Civil Service Commission, one passed away waiting for his appointment. He did not see the day that his appointment would be rendered valid. That is really sad. I was not remiss in letting our bosses know this: we were all making decisions which would affect people’s lives and their families’. We are all so busy with adherence to the rules, which, I would point out, were interpreted by about a hundred brilliant minds, interpretations all different from the other. So one memorandum would be issued about how the process would work, and then another would be issued about an hour later, changing the rules when we at the field offices all along thought that we already did our part, and followed instructions to the letter.
The last issue I have with all these is the fact that we at the field offices are beholden, yes, beholden, to the pace, the strength and firmness of decisions made, and the political will of our bosses to get this rationalization plan finally done, not just in a piece of paper, but in its true meaning.
You see, I blame myself everyday. Because I followed orders, I followed rules, I followed directives. Now, I see myself as part of the management that whipped its own people. I have shed many tears for my colleagues in my province, my region, mainly for my part in their long and trecherous wait for their ‘time’. They say patience is a virtue. Many console themselves by saying, all will fall into place in God’s time. I could not agree more. But then again, God, and I am speaking of my God, would perhaps give us all a dressing-down if only He can descend from the heavens. And we deserve that.
This EO366, I say, is bad for the soul. It has brought out the worst in people: friendships were broken, relationships were strained, pride and greed reared their ugly heads, at what cost? At the moment, none. Nothing worth all the heartache, the sorrow, the disturbed nights. I am awed, however, by my colleagues in the province in which I work. Despite all the uncertainties, they tread on. They continue to give their best to their work, their commitment unwavering. At times I feel that they have given up with their ‘waiting for their time’, or that they are now resigned to the fact that there will no longer be light at the end of the tunnel for them. So they do what they can, day after day, because that is the job. That is their calling, their responsibility, their commitment.
The question is, can we as their management, match their commitment to the job by ending this game of directing field offices to proceed with the processes, then again asked to wait, and yet again, told to proceed, only to be told the day after that we are to wait, yes, again. I ask because I rose from the ranks. I know how it feels to be where they all are now. And I say, these are the times when I cannot hold my head high and proudly tell them that I did my best for them. Because I did not. No, let me correct that: I cannot. My hands are tied to the decisions of my bosses.
Clarissa Villalba
Nenette C. Madriaga
Rhoda Gagto
Gemma Tablada
Carina Ridao-Muñoz
Comments
Post a Comment