Cebu guv: No more contract of service workers

MEDICAL specialists of the Cebu Provincial Government whose services were extended by the administration of Governor Gwen Garcia will no longer work as contract of service (COS) employees.

Instead, they will be employed as job order (JO) workers until the Capitol can tap a service provider to outsource its manpower.

Garcia made the following pronouncements Monday, July 8, 2019, as she reiterated the need to cut cost and downsize the "overstaffed" provincial and district hospitals.

"Contract of service expired last June 30. We told them (chiefs of hospitals), we go back. Og duna ray vacant na medical specialist, mao ra to ang ato karon ibutang as JO, dili COS (If there are any vacancies among medical specialists, we will fill them in as a JO, not COS). I asked the chiefs of hospitals nga ayuha na ninyo og scheduling ang ilang pagtrabaho aron sigurado ta nga naay doctor or espesyalista diha sa inyong (to make proper scheduling of medical specialists to ensure that there will be attending doctors or specialists in their) hospital. Wala na tay COS, gi-JO (We don't have COS anymore, we gave them JO) status sila until we shall be able to bid out our outsourcing," Garcia said.

Outsourcing is the method of obtaining goods or services from an outside source, especially in place of an internal source.

A COS refers to the engagement of the services of an individual, private firm, other government agency, non-governmental agency or international organization as consultant, learning service provider or technical expert to undertake special project or job within a specific period.

A JO, on the other hand, is defined as a piece work, intermittent or emergency jobs, trades and crafts services, among others. These jobs are of short duration and for a specific piece of work.

As a general rule, government agencies may avail of outsourced services through institutional contract of service for a maximum period of one year subject to the provisions of Republic Act 9184 or the Government Procurement Act and pertinent budgeting, accounting and auditing rules and regulations.

The Capitol has over 4,000 workers, of which some 1,600 are employees in the provincial and district hospitals.

The biggest group, of 286 workers, are assigned to the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Carcar City. Aside from having a 100-bed capacity, this hospital offers total knee replacement, cataract removal and dialysis treatment.

As of June 29, some 825 medical personnel assigned in provincial and district hospitals and 11 employees of the Provincial Health Office based in Capitol have been retained by the Garcia administration.

Some 15 medical personnel who were deployed to provincial and district hospitals although their initial appointment provided that they take base at the Capitol, were also retained.

In the case of Carcar, Garcia said the hospital has 28 plantilla positions for medical specialists but only five were filled.

But instead of hiring only 23 persons to fill in the vacancies, the previous administration reportedly hired 59 medical specialists under COS.

It also hired 109 JO nurses and nursing attendants although only 48 out of 63 posts were vacant.

Some 58 JO workers were also allegedly hired to fill in 10 vacant administrative positions. There were only 44 plantilla positions for administrative functions.

By letting go of some temporary hospital workers, Garcia said the Province will be able to save around P31 million a month, or more than P360 million in a year.

On average, the Capitol pays P80,000 a month to every COS medical specialist while a nurse employed as a JO worker gets P30,000 a month.

"All organic personnel are already receiving the fourth tranche. However, I asked our provincial administrator and human resource office to study and compare industry standards on the possibility of pegging what we will be paying the doctors, at possibly on the second or third tranches only. (Through outsourcing), we are not responsible for them because they are not government employees. We can peg the salaries at a lower rate. We will realize more savings. That will be the problem of the service provider to look for manpower," Garcia said.

With the formation of the new bids and awards committee (BAC), the Capitol is set to hold a public bidding for interested manpower contractors.

The BAC is headed by Provincial Treasurer Roy Salubre and Provincial General Services Office officer-in-charge Bernard Calderon who will sit as committee chairman and vice chairman, respectively.

Sought for comment, former governor and now Vice Governor Hilario Davide III said under his leadership, they saw the need to hire more medical personnel since they worked in shifts.

"I respect her view, but during our term, we also had a different view. I still believe we need really more personnel to man our hospitals and attend to our patients," Davide said.

Aside from downsizing manpower, another cost-cutting measure Garcia has also mulled over are plans to downgrade into divisions four offices that were created into departments by her predecessor.

To help her realize this, the governor met with Provincial Board (PB) members last July 5 to discuss the move to downgrade the Cebu Provincial Investment and Promotions Office, Provincial Tourism Office, Cebu Provincial Anti-Drug Abuse Office (Cpadao) and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO).

"Our total monthly payables for salaries is P27,058,000 for the four departments alone. Now, if we downgrade these to divisions, we will now only be spending P11,543,000 for salaries, or monthly savings of P15,515,000. In one year, that is P186 million," Garcia said.

Majority bloc leader PB Member Christopher Baricuatro (7th district) suggested creating an ad hoc committee to study whether the four ordinances should be repealed or amended.

But first district PB Member Raul Bacaltos, chairman of the committee on laws and ordinances, said filing amendatory ordinances for these legislations would suffice.

"Every day that passes, were spending a lot on unnecessary departments. They can function just as effectively under the Office of the Governor. As I told our PB members, I assure you that I'm a very hands on governor and whatever goals we may set for each of these departments, I will see to it that these goals are met even as they will be now downgraded as divisions," Garcia said.

Davide, for his part, said: "That's the call of the executive. If these will be downgraded, what's important is that these offices will be retained, especially the PDRRMO and Cpadao." (RTF)

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