Philippines Eyes P4.04 Billion for Civil Service Modernization in 2027

MANILA, Philippines – The Marcos administration is seeking to allocate P4.04 billion for the Civil Service Commission (CSC) next year, based on the 2027 National Expenditure Program (NEP). The recommended figure, which includes new general appropriations and automatic appropriations, is lower than the CSC’s original proposal of P4.81 billion. The commission will comply with the Department of Budget and Management’s recommendation, CSC Chairperson Marilyn Barua-Yap told the House appropriations committee during the budget deliberations on Tuesday, September 2. The 2027 NEP showed the commission’s proposed general fund at P3.89 billion. Broken down, P1.73 billion would go to personnel services, P1.24 billion for maintenance and other operating expenses, and P919 million for capital outlay. The proposed funding for CSC is 41% higher than the P2.75-billion allocation it received in the 2026 General Appropriations Act, or the national budget. The increase is due to the allotted P1.45 billion for the Philippine Civil Service Modernization Project (PCSMP), which is a foreign-assisted undertaking. Yap said the PCSMP aims to strengthen human resource capabilities, modernize human resource systems, and digitize personnel management, making the commission “more responsive, capable, agile, and future-ready.” For this year, P334 million was earmarked for the PCSMP. Supported by the World Bank, the project costs around P3.88 billion, which runs from 2025 to 2029. The World Bank previously said the project would establish the Human Resources Management Information System and payroll system to “improve analytics for workforce planning, career development, succession planning, and training.” It also sets up a human resource certification system to “standardize and increase the competence of human resource management officers.” Here are the proposed amounts for other CSC programs: Civil Service Professionalization and Workplace Cooperation Program – P726 million Administrative Justice Program – P197 million Civil Service Human Resource Governance Program – P72 million The Career Executive Service Board, which is attached to the CSC, is seeking P143 million for 2027. Over 1 million contractual workers But some lawmakers pressed the CSC on how it would address the high number of contractual workers in the government workforce. Yap said there are more than 3 million government workers, including 2 million career professionals and around 1 million workers with only job orders (JO) and contracts of service (COS). CSC Commissioner Ryan Acosta said the national government agencies with the highest number of contractual workers were the Department of Public Works and Highways, Department of Education, Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development, and Department of Environment and Natural Resources. During the budget briefing, Acosta said many of the contractual workers in these agencies are involved in the distribution of welfare benefits. He said around 70% of the JO and COS workers were in the local governments. Acosta urged the Department of the Interior and Local Government to study whether a rigid personal services limitation on local government funding remains relevant and whether a cap on the number of their JO and COS workers must be implemented. The commissioner urged Congress to carefully review present laws that create mandatory positions without regard to the needs and capacities of LGUs, particularly low-income communities. He said the DBM should relax its scrap and build policy, a strategy where agencies abolish obsolete or vacant positions to create new positions or units. Acosta also recommended that the proposed optimization committee explore the possibility of having trigger points in reviewing agencies that repeatedly hire JO and COS workers for the same position for a number of years. Yap said it is the responsibility of the agency to maintain and update its inventory of their JO and COS workers as they are not covered by the CSC. Data collected may be used to craft policies to improve the welfare of contractual workers. “We will always welcome any initiative to support benefits for the JO and COS [workers], but it is unfortunate that we cannot guarantee their absorption into the civil service as of this time,” she said. – Rappler.com