SENATE Majority Leader Joel Villanueva calls on the Civil Service Commission to address the high number of Job Order and Contract of Service employees in government, particularly at the Department of Education

At the same time, Villanueva urged the commission to provide employees with security of tenure especially if they have civil service eligibility.

According to CSC data, DepEd is one of the top government agencies with the highest number of JO and COS employees.

Information shows there are 12,465 JO and COS employees in the education department.

The Department of Public Works and Highways with 22,457 JO and COS employees is the top government agency with the highest number.

“We have been raising the issue of unfilled positions in government during budget hearings since we became a senator in 2016, and the number of JOs and COS workers in government remains a problem. It’s about time that we address the issue of contractualization in government,” Villanueva said.

He added while there are 170,688 unfilled government positions, the government has 642,077 employees under JO or COS, representing 26.07 percent of all government workers.

Data also shows DepEd has 47,034 unfilled positions.

The Senate Majority Leader noted despite the high number of unfilled positions in different government agencies, most JO and COS employees are not qualified to apply for a permanent position in government because they do not have any civil service eligibility.

For his part, Villanueva filed Senate Bill No. 568 which will institutionalize the Skills Certificate Equivalency Program and grant civil service eligibility for graduates of technical and vocational education and training courses who are National Certificate holders issued by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

The senator, an advocate for workers’ rights, also filed