Atty. Dugay of CSC discusses “endo” for workers in the government

Volume 19 | Issue No. 4 | July-August 2018 ISSN 0119-0725

CPAf Library

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ssociate Professor Rolando T. Bello receives a gavel symbolizing the turnover of

responsibility in the deanship of CPAf from Dr. Virginia R. Cardenas and Dr.

Josefina T. Dizon during the Turnover Ceremony for New CPAf Dean on August 17, 2018 at CPAf Rm. 303- 304. Dean Bello’s term started on August 1, 2018 and will end on July 31, 2021. This is his second appointment as CPAf Dean, the first was on December 1, 2003-November 30, 2006. On the other hand, Dr.

Cardenas became dean from January 29, 2016 to December 31, 2017 while Dr. Dizon was appointed as officer-in- charge (OIC) from January 1 to July 31, 2018.

In his acceptance message, Dean Bello likened the turnover ceremony as riding in a CPAf train

destined for a long journey where people board and disembark at specific train stops.

He said that deans start their terms and end their tour of duty, while new graduate students attend their orientation and eventually receive their diplomas.

Quoting a wise saying from Hawaii, pupukahi i holomua,

which means united as we move forward, Dean Bello added that people should not be dependent on the train engineer (i.e., the dean) for the train to get somewhere. For Dean Bello, the CPAf train is a complex system of hardware and software, of people and material that must work

in harmony so as not to get off the track. Lastly, he recognized the efforts of the previous dean and OIC for making the train ride as smooth and comfortable as possible. “And by the grace of the Almighty and with your unwavering support, I say, full speed ahead!” Dean Bello said. Stoix Nebin S. Pascua

Associate Professor Rolando T. Bello is CPAf’s Dean for 2018-2021

Atty. Dugay of CSC discusses “endo” for workers in the government

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ontractualization in the country’s labor sector recently received special attention due to President Duterte’s order to end such practice.

Though commonly observed in the private sector, contractualization also occurs in government offices in the form of job orders (JO) or contract- of-service (COS) with individuals or institutions. Different sets of rules and regulations administered by separate government agencies govern labor practices in the country.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) oversees the private sector, while the Civil Service

Commission (CSC) oversees the labor and employment in the government.

To complement the previous seminar on contractualization in the private sector, the Center for Strategic Planning and Policy Studies (CSPPS) of CPAf organized a policy seminar on contractualization in the government sector. Entitled “A Perspective on Job Contractualization:

From Policy to Reality,” the seminar was held on July 3, 2018 with Atty.

Mary Grace P. Dugay, Chief of Legal Services Division of CSC-NCR, as the resource person.

According to Atty. Dugay, job orders and contract of service are not covered by the Civil Service Law and are not considered as government services as stipulated in CSC MC No. 40 (1998). Due to the absence of employer-employee relationship, workers under JOs or COS have no government benefits, lack social protections, and suffer from inequality. On the part of the government, there is obscure accountability from JOs/COS.

In 2002, CSC MC No. 17 added provision prohibiting hiring

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CPAf Updates

Volume 19 | Issue No. 4 | July-August 2018 CPAf Updates

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Volume 19 | Issue No. 4 | July-August 2018

CISC holds trainings on rice farming technology

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he Community Innovations Studies Center (CISC) of CPAf completed six batches of training on rice farming technology. The series of training was conducted from May to July 2018.

The training series is part of the rice farming technology and demonstration farm component of the research project entitled “Special Assistance for Project Sustainability for the Help for Catubig Agricultural Advancement Project (SAPS- HCAAP)”. This component, which is headed by Mr. Danilo J. Lalican, retired university researcher at the UPLB College of Agriculture and Food Science (CAFS), is one of the three components of the project.

The other two components are the socio-economic survey led by CISC Director Blanquita R. Pantoja and the assistance to the provincial government of Northern Samar led by

Dr. Jaime F. Sanico, professor at the University of Eastern Philippines. The research project is based at the CISC with Dir. Pantoja as project leader.

The training course supports the goal of the SAPS-HCAAP, which is to increase rice productivity in target areas, particularly the Municipalities of Catubig and Las Navas in Northern Samar, through the adoption of appropriate training technologies. It was designed to improve the performance of rice farmers in their farming operations so that they can improve their crop productivity and increase their income. It covered 11 modules, namely: 1) Farm Business Plan; 2) Characteristics and Determinants of Rice Based Farming System;

3) Land Preparation; 4) Seed and Variety Selection); 5) Crop Stand Establishment; 6) Water Management; 7) Integrated Nutrient

Management; 8) Integrated Pest and Weed Management; 9) Harvesting and Post-Harvest Handling; 10) Seed Production, Purification, and Management; and 11) Legacy Leadership, Organizational

Development, Irrigators’ Association (IA) Leadership, Human Relationship, and Pagka-Magsasaka.

The 11 modules were divided into six batches of training with three days allotted for each batch.

Due to time constraints, participants from 12 Irrigators’ Associations (IA) in Catubig and Las Navas were divided into five clusters based on their accessibility and nearness to the training venues. Each cluster was composed of two or three associations. The first day of each batch of training was allotted to cluster 1; the second day for clusters 2 and 3, and the third day for clusters 3 and 4. The second and third days were JOs/COS to perform tasks pertaining

to regular plantilla positions. This provision affected government offices as limited staff complement relative to number of clients require additional manpower. The restrictive organizational structure in the government makes it difficult to add plantilla positions, making JO/COS as the primary solution to understaffing.

The latest issuance, i.e., CSC COA and DBM Joint Circular No. 1 (2017), recognizes some of the shortcomings of the previous guidelines, especially when it comes to social protection of JO/COS workers. Among the salient provisions of this circular are: 1) registration of contract service provider in various government regulatory and benefit agency such as the Bureau of Internal Revenue, DOLE, Department of Trade and Industry, Securities and Exchange Commission, Social Security System, PAGIBIG, and PhilHealth; and 2) while workers hired through institutional contract of service remain employee of the

service provider, the latter shall be responsible for providing the workers with compensation and benefits compliant with existing labor law including the necessary social security and other benefits mandated by law in addition to the direct compensation as payment for their services.

Atty. Dugay stressed that the lack of plantilla position, the bureaucratic process involving the creation or request of these positions, and even the lack of basic qualification (e.g., passing the civil service exam) of existing JO/COS workers remain the fundamental hindrances to regular job position.

“Though social protection and work benefits for these workers are ensured in the new circular, the end of contractualization in the government is nowhere in the near future,” she added. Hadji C.

Jalotjot

Atty. Dugay of CSC... CRDES 2 Project: Creating opportunities

amidst the challenges

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he Collaborative Research Development and Extension Services - Phase 2 (CRDES 2) project entitled “Mainstreaming Palayamanan in the Agricultural Extension System using the CPAR Approach: The Case of Camarines Sur and Masbate” was completed last August 31, 2018 after almost four years of collaborative work with the local government units (LGUs), farmers, and stakeholders from the Municipalities of Pamplona, Camarines Sur and Milagros,

Masbate.

The project believed that improvement in the extension system through sustained collaboration using proven extension programs would lead not only to the strengthening of the extension system through improved capacities of stakeholders, but more importantly, to improving productivity and income of

the farmers. It combined two participatory extension approaches that have been proven to be adaptive to local conditions, which were Palayamanan of DA-PhilRice and the Community-based Participatory Action Research (CPAR) of DA- BAR. The main objective of the project was to mainstream and institutionalize Palayamanan in the agricultural extension system using the CPAR approach. Palayamanan is a diversified rice farming system, which aims to help farmers increase income and productivity through incorporating different farming inputs

and commodities such as rice, vegetables, livestock, and aquaculture.

On the other hand, CPAR is a research approach, which involves the participation of the stakeholders in the project implementation and decision- making.

Nine Climate Field Schools (CFS) with techno demo farms were conducted in Camarines Sur and Masabate. The CFS were implemented during the entire cropping season for the two phases in which 239 farmers graduated in the CFS.

Conducting CFS while experiencing unpredictable or unfavorable weather conditions in the field was a challenge to the techno demo sites implemented by the project. Despite the drought, typhoons, and other difficulties encountered in the field, the technologies introduced have increased the income of the farmers in these marginal areas. Up to now, the farmers have been continuously using their learnings that were taught in the CFS. Meanwhile, the number of beneficiary farmers of the animal

roll-over scheme has been slowly increasing.

Aside from CFS, trainings were conducted for capacity building of Agricultural Extension Workers and for mainstreaming Palayamanan in agricultural development planning.

The culminating activity of the project was a back-to-back roundtable discussion and regional scientific conference where research results of the project were presented to and validated with the partner-agencies.

Lastly, the project is developing a CFS manual and a monograph for dissemination to LGUs and interested stakeholders.

The CRDES 2 project is headed by Dr. Agnes C. Rola and Dr.

Merlyne M. Paunlagui, and is funded by the Department of Agriculture Regional Field Office 5 (Bicol Region). Macrina G. Umali and Ruth Anne T. Ruelos

CISC holds...

conducted simultaneously. Hence, there were two groups of resource persons from UPLB and UEP:

Associate Prof. Rolando T. Bello and Mr. Lalican (UPLB), and Mr. Deony S. Marion and Mr. Angelito I. Llano (UEP) for group 1; and Dr. Sanico (UEP) and Mr. Rene L. Limosinero (UPLB) for group 2.

A total of 146 IA members attended the training of which 19 were cooperators for the establishment of the technology demonstration farm. Other attendees were staff (4) of the National Irrigation Authority (NIA) and agricultural technicians of Las Navas Municipal Agriculture Office. They received a certificate of completion

or attendance during the graduation ceremony held on July 25, 2018 at the NIA Catubig Field Office in Catubig, Northern Samar.

The research project is funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency. It started in June 2017 and will end on March 2019.

Francisca O. Tan

Photo courtesy of CRDES 2 Project

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CPAf Updates Volume 19 | Issue No. 4 | July-August 2018

CPAf delegates receive awards at the 4 ^th Asia Future Conference in South Korea

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r. Merlyne M.

Paunlagui, director of the Center for Strategic Planning and Policy Studies of the College of Public Affairs and Development (CPAf), won the best paper award in the 4^th Asia Future Conference held in K-Hotel, Seoul, South Korea on August 24-28, 2018. Dr.

Merlyne M. Paunlagui was one of the 20 best paper awardees. Her paper was on the effect of Philippine cash transfer program to the local economy. Meanwhile, Ms.

Karen Janiya was one of the best paper presenters. She presented her paper entitled

“Understanding the Reason Behind the Leaky Pipeline in STEM,” co-authored with Dr.

Paunlagui.

The theme for this year’s conference was “Peace, Prosperity and Dynamic Future.” Two keynote speakers were invited for the

conference. The first keynote speaker was Professor Jeong Ji Hoon of Kyunghee Cyber University, who discussed “Artificial Intelligence (AI) of the Present, and Future.” The second keynote speaker was Professor Kim Ki Hyun of Seoul National University, who talked about “AI and the Human Soul.” The speakers highlighted the opportunities and challenges to be brought about by the development of AI.

Dr. Paunlagui and Ms.

Janiya were two of the 379 registered participants representing 21 countries.

Other delegates from CPAf were Dr. Rowena DT. Baconguis, Dr.

Ferdinand C. Maquito, Dr. Eileen Lorena M. Mamino, and Dean Rolando T. Belo, who headed the delegation. CPAf delegates were also involved as chairpersons in the general sessions and a member of the Secretariat. This is in preparation for the 5^th Asia Future Conference in January 2020 where UPLB, through CPAf and the Graduate School, will partner with Sekiguchi Global Research Association (SGRA).

Meanwhile, the other Filipino participants came from the UPLB College of Forestry and Natural Resources and other UP constituents such as UP Diliman and UP Mindanao; other higher learning

institutions including Laguna State Polytechnic University, University of Santo Tomas, Ateneo de Manila University, Technological Institute of the Philippines, and University of the Asia and the Pacific; the Department of Agrarian Reform; and the local government units of Kapangan, La Trinidad, and Tubay in the province of Benguet.

SGRA organized the 4^th Asia Future Conference. SGRA began operating in Tokyo in July 2000 as a division of the Atsumi International Foundation which is a charitable organization based in Japan. SGRA has been CPAf’s partner in the conduct of seminars since 2017.

Karen S. Janiya

Philippine delegation to the 4^th Asia Future Conference. Photo courtesy of SGRA.