ANXIOUS days lie ahead for more than 600 job order (JO) workers at the Cebu Provincial Capitol, as Gov. Pamela Baricuatro prepares to announce her first major reorganization this week.
Assistant Provincial Administrator Aldwin Empaces said Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, that the shake-up will affect both department heads and JO staff.
“There will be movements. Some contracts will end, others will be transferred or reassigned,” he said in Cebuano.
The suspense may end on Aug. 30, when results of Baricuatro’s three-month performance review are released. But the implications stretch further than this week’s personnel list.
System built on uncertainty
JO workers are vital to Capitol operations — filling roles in hospitals, agriculture, and disaster response — yet they remain the most vulnerable. Unlike plantilla employees, they have no job security, pensions, or benefits, and their contracts rise or fall at the discretion of elected officials.
Past administrations used the same playbook. In 2019, then-gov. Gwendolyn Garcia non-renewed thousands of JOs. In 2013, Gov. Hilario Davide III also trimmed the Capitol’s workforce. Each cycle reshuffles lives, disrupts projects, and fuels accusations of political patronage.
Why it matters
Baricuatro has promised a “performance-based” evaluation, but whether employees and the public see it as meritocratic will shape perceptions of her young administration. The move also comes as Capitol faces a leaner P10-billion budget for 2026 — less than half of last year’s P25 billion — raising questions on whether fiscal constraints, not just performance, will drive cuts.
Bigger debate
Cebu’s experience mirrors a national dilemma: government agencies across the Philippines rely heavily on JO and contract-of-service workers, a practice critics say erodes labor rights while propping up patronage politics. Reform bills have been filed in Congress, but none have passed.
For now, hundreds of Capitol employees wait for Saturday’s announcement, uncertain whether their names will be on the list, or whether the system that keeps them insecure will ever change. / ANV