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Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Velasco: Gov't rationalization worth the sacrifice
By Diana B. Velasco
Grain of Salt
EXECUTIVE order 366, otherwise known as a "strategic review of the operations and organizations of the executive branch and providing options and incentives for government employees who may be affected by the rationalization of the functions and agencies of the executive branch", will be implemented this year.
Protests against the rationalization program have began to gain steam starting last week, with the loudest cries coming from affected agencies and militant groups.
I was able to read an impassioned email sent by an employee whose position was in danger of being dissolved due to the program. Being with a line agency for the past 12 years, he wrote that, "I hope this reaches President Arroyo. I am afraid of losing my job. I have two children to feed and I fear for their future if I cannot send them to good schools if I have no job. They are only eight and five years old."
He echoes very strongly the feelings I first had when I heard about the program. I know from first hand experience that there are way too many people in public service doing way too little in the lines of actual public service, and I believe that the public will be better off without them in the bureaucracy. However, when it started becoming real, it initially seemed so scary, and cruel.
But that changed when I realized that EO 366 was not a mechanism for doing mass layoffs just to save money, as what other people mistakenly perceive it to be. The rationalization is a review of mandates and functions--a means of getting rid of clutter in the executive branch. If we have more than one organization and people doing the exact same thing or doing outdated functions, is it not only logical that we streamline these organizations and positions in order to become a more efficient bureaucracy? Wouldn't you, as a taxpayer who subsidizes these same organizations and employees, want utmost efficiency and service for the dues that you (often, begrudgingly) pay for?
There was also a time when I wished to be one of those personnel who would be affected by EO 366. After learning and thoroughly studying the options to be offered for employees who would be affected, I learned that the program would not leave me shivering in the rain and crying out in the dark of unemployment and uncertainty.
I learned that if my position does get affected, I will have two choices: firstly, I could opt to get transferred to another organization that needs my skills and experience more than my present agency: in short, I could hold on to the security of tenure that is inherent in government service; or secondly, I could avail of the very attractive early retirement packages being offered that will compensate me justly based on the number of years I invested in public service. Given the two options, I will not be robbed of my right to choose. The retirement packages are extremely attractive and, if I am afraid of entrepreneurship or job-hunting, I could still choose to remain in the service. It is not as scary or cruel as I initially thought it would be.
If my position does not get affected, on the other hand, I can take pride in the fact that I will be an integral component of a more efficient and more professional bureaucracy, whose individuals are better compensated due to the merits of their contribution to the machinery. It is affirming that "I love my job, I have something to contribute and I will do it well because I can take pride in the essentiality of what I do."
Change is always daunting, more so to us in government service. But we have to remember that sometimes, it is necessary to sacrifice the certainty that we take for granted, in order to get something better. EO 366 seeks exactly to do that. And I believe that we can attain an efficient and professional bureaucracy that will finally be respected by the very people it seeks to serve. That is why I am willing to hurdle my fears of the change that it will bring, because with it will come a new day. I believe in that.
For your comments and reactions, please email missabsinthe@yahoo.com
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (January 18, 2006 issue)
Write letter to the editor.Click here.
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