“We create the laws to protect employees, but we ourselves treat employees under [job orders] and [contract of services] as second-class citizens here in government.”

This was the issue that Bagong Henerasyon Partylist Rep. Roberto Nazal directed at executive officials under the Civil Service Commission (CSC), arguing that the agency seemingly undermined the existence of contractualization in government offices.

The lawmaker highlighted that numerous individuals had worked for years on end in the government under job order and contract of service arrangements without being absorbed into permanent positions.

With 919,868 contractual workers based on the CSC’s own data, Nazal expressed concern over the commission’s unwillingness to match individuals with vacant plantilla positions in government.

“What is the CSC completely doing about the large number of unfilled plantilla positions across government while we continue to rely heavily on JOs and COS workers?” he asked.

“What is the CSC’s government-wide plan to match qualified JOs and COS workers with vacant plantilla positions, help those who lack eligibility to obtain it, and reduce both vacancies and dependence on contractual arrangements?” he added.