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Tuesday, June 10, 2003
Sienes: Impending massacre of gov't workers
By Cris G. Sienes
WHATEVER the IMF wants from the country, the IMF gets. Thus, the IMF wants the government to reduce the number of its employees as part of an overall program of observing fiscal discipline.
"Civil service reforms," declared IMF mission leader Masahiko Takeda, "will help the government achieve expenditure control and balance the budget by 2009."
Like a good Boy Scout, the government is set to grant what the IMF wants. Over a longer stretch of time, government employees will be given their walking papers. Thus, there is an impending massacre of government employees, only this time it will not be wholesale all at once but by retail.
Recall that during the Aquino administration, there was a government reorganization, which was supposed to trim the excess fat of the bureaucracy. But far from trimming the excess fat of the bureaucracy, it fattened the bureaucracy even more.
The reason for this was the addition of so many assistance secretaries and undersecretaries per department who are paid whopping salaries and equally whopping allowances and fringe benefits probably for just twiddling their thumbs inside their air-conditioned offices.
There were, of course, the usual political accommodations, which added to the population explosion in the government.
There was no government reorganization during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos. On the contrary, government employees received more benefits. These benefits Erap Estrada later removed when he became president.
During Estrada's term, he vowed to streamline the bureaucracy. But his plan never came together. He was booted out of Malaca¤ang by another Edsa uprising.
President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, for her part, favors a lean and effective civil service from the local level up to the national level. With the prodding of the IMF, she may soon get what she wants.
It is really unfortunate that whenever the government faces a huge shortfall of badly needed funds, it always turns to its government employees for a way out. Hence, the impending massacre of government employees by small doses.
If the government can and will only stamp out graft and corruption in its higher levels, if it will only scrap the whopping pork barrel funds of legislators; if it will only desist from spending taxpayers' money extravagantly, it will be able to save enough funds. Graft and corruption alone deprives the government of billions of pesos annually.
One reason why the government sets aside so much money for its monthly payroll is because it is top-heavy. Each department has so many assistant secretaries and undersecretaries, perhaps even consultants, who are paid fat salaries, allowances and other benefits.
If the government must reduce the number of its employees, it should start at the top. All these assistant secretaries and undersecretaries are not needed. They're just albatrosses around the neck of the government.
During the time of President Marcos, each department or ministry had only one secretary and undersecretary, or one minister and one assistant minister. Yet all the departments functioned effectively well. So why should we now have so many assistant secretaries and undersecretaries?
Besides, who do all the dirty work in the government? It's not people in the higher echelons of the government but the rank and file. So any streamlining of the bureaucracy must start from the top, not from the bottom.
And by the way, the IMF also wants the government to collect more taxes to fill up its depleted coffers. Will the government also give in to the wish of the IMF and impose new taxes upon the people?
Since the government appears to be subservient to the IMF, expect new taxes to be imposed upon us soon.
Point to Ponder: "The simple realization that there are other points of view is the beginning of wisdom. Understanding what they are is a great step. The final test is understanding why they are held." --C.M. Campbell
(June 10, 2003 issue)
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