Press Release - Opening statement of Senator Risa Hontiveros at the CSC budget hearing

Good morning fellow Senators, to the Civil Service Commission family, sa pangunguna ni Chairperson Karlo Alexi Nograles at Commissioners Aileen Lizada and Ryan Acosta.

Tulad noong nakaraang taon, gusto po natin makarinig ng updates ukol sa gustong isulong ng administrasyon na tinatawag na "rightsizing" ng burukrasya na nasa HB 7240. Patuloy itong nagdudulot ito ng pangamba at agam-agam sa mga kawani ng gobyerno. Salamat sa maagap na pagtitiyak ni Chair Karlo na hindi madedehado ang ating mga kawani habang patuloy pa ring mabigyan ng mahusay at tapat na serbisyo ang mamamayang Pilipino.

This time, it comes on the heels of reports that came from CSC itself that there are 204,000 permanent positions in government, of which, more than 110,000 are in National Government agencies. Bakit po kaya walang maibigay na plantilla items kung saan may pangangailangan pero marami palang ahensiya ang may mga bakanteng positions. Hindi lang yan, tila patuloy pa ang paglobo ng mga JO sa gobyerno. I understand that DBM and CSC have come up with a plan to address this so we hope to hear it.

And because we are again here to examine the budget that CSC will receive for 2024, under the Finance Subcommittee H, the committee wishes to see whether the funding will allow CSC to continue fulfilling its mandate as the central personnel agency of government, while "promoting morale, efficiency, integrity, responsiveness, progressiveness, and courtesy in the civil service"

With that, we are now ready to listen to your budget presentation. After which, as has been the practice, our Senators, based on their arrival/log-in time, beginning with the Minority Leader if present, will have 10 minutes per round of questions.