MANILA — Senator Camille Villar, the youngest senator of the 20th Congress, calls on the government to fill thousands of unoccupied positions and regularize long-serving job order (JO) and contractual workers to make government service more efficient, cost-effective, and responsive to the public.
Her statement comes amid the ongoing Senate budget deliberations for fiscal year 2026, where the Civil Service Commission (CSC) revealed that over 83,000 first-level positions across government remain unfilled and that the qualification standards for many positions are already outdated, having last been reviewed 15 years ago.
“Every unfilled position means slower service, heavier workloads, and wasted taxpayer money,” Villar said. “The best way to make government more efficient is to empower the very people who keep it running, our job order and contractual workers who have been serving the public for years.”
To address these long-standing gaps, Senator Villar filed the “Regularization of Work Engagement in Government Service Act,” which seeks to grant permanent appointment and civil service eligibility to qualified individuals under casual, contractual, contract-of-service, job order, and similar work arrangements.
Under the proposed measure, individuals who have rendered at least five (5) years of continuous service in national government agencies, government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), and state universities and colleges (SUCs), or ten (10) years in local government units (LGUs), will be appointed to permanent plantilla positions within their respective agencies. The bill also directs agencies to request staffing modifications from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to accommodate the regularization process.
Villar’s proposal also aligns with the CSC’s ongoing efforts to modernize qualification standards and update outdated pay scales, which CSC Chairperson Marilyn Yap said must be reformed to reflect current skills and responsibilities. The senator emphasized that modernizing government staffing policies must go hand in hand with securing the welfare of workers who have long been part of the system but remain excluded from regular status and benefits.
By converting long-serving contractual and job order workers into permanent employees, the government can cut costs, reduce inefficiency, and strengthen accountability which are key priorities in addressing recurring problems of underspending and slow project execution.
“By filling unfilled positions and recognizing the contributions of those who have long served, we not only build efficiency but we also restore dignity in public service,” Villar said. ###
