PCO vows to regularize 217 contractual workers by 2025

Acting Presidential Communications Office (PCO) Secretary Cesar Chavez on Monday vowed to regularize the agency’s 217 contractual employees by next year.

Chavez made the promise during the deliberations on the PCO’s proposed P2-billion budget for 2025 before the House appropriations panel.

“The PCO has already submitted to the DBM (Department of Budget and Management) our proposed new structure last May 2024. According to the DBM, it is now being reviewed. Should it be approved, there will be hopefully a decrease in the number of COS positions by the end of 2024 and hopefully, no more COS positions by 2025,” Chavez, appointed acting chief of the agency just last week, said.

In his presentation of the PCO budget at the House of Representatives, Chavez underscored the regularization of the 217 COS personnel as part of the reorganization process and the proposed new organizational structure, which was submitted in May 2024 and is currently being reviewed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“The PCO has already submitted to the DBM our proposed new structure last May 2024. According to the DBM, it is now being reviewed. Should it be approved, there will be hopefully a decrease in number of COS positions by the end of 2024 and hopefully, no more COS positions by 2025,” he said.

“There are a total of 217 COS personnel who aim to be regularized,” he added.

Chavez said the PCO has a total of 485 positions as of June 30, 2024. Of this number, 267 are plantilla or permanent positions.

Of the 267 plantilla positions, 207 are filled while 60 remain unfilled.

“For the unfilled positions, the PCO is currently screening applicants for the vacant positions in the hope of filling up at least fifty percent of vacancies by the end of this year,” Chavez said.

“The hiring process will be of course subjected to the existing rules and regulations set by the Civil Service Commission,” he said.

Huge government losses

During the same budget deliberations, PTV-4 General Manager Toby Nebrida said that state-run television network PTV-4 has accumulated P317 million worth of losses for the year 2023.

“It’s P317 million, Your Honor,” Nebrida responded when asked about the net loss by House appropriations panel senior vice chairperson and Marikina lawmaker Stella Quimbo.

In addition, Nebrida said that PTV-4 received a government subsidy of P75 million for the launch of Congress TV, which features the activities and committee hearings and press conferences of the members of the House of Representatives, in January this year.

Quimbo then quizzed Nebrida, who assumed his post last June, as to why PTV is only able to use 4% of the P75-million government subsidy for Congress TV.

“You have been providing airtime [for Congress activities] since January, but you are not able to use your funds?” Quimbo said.

Nebrida replied, “I think it's really the accounting [recording] of the fund, Your Honor.”

Quimbo said that PTV-4 should fix its apparent accounting mess so Congress can better provide for its funding needs.

“Ayusin na lang natin, di ba, Sir. Kasi iyong P317 million na net loss, baka hindi naman talaga net loss iyon,” Quimbo added.

(You should fix your accounting of records. For all we know, that P317 million is not really a net loss.)

The government subsidy for state run corporation PTV-4 under the proposed 2025 budget is worth P215 million. — BM, GMA Integrated News