Palace directs DBM to create comprehensive gov’t manpower database to stop abuse of PS spending

Press Release
March 31, 2011

MALACAÑANG, Manila  –  Malacañang has directed the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to establish a comprehensive database on government personnel to prevent the abuse of savings generated from the release of funds on the basis of authorized positions.

Executive Secretary Paquito N. Ochoa Jr. said on Thursday the directive was contained in Executive Order No. 31 signed by President Aquino III on March 30, which aims to cut down spending on personal services (PS).

According to Ochoa, the creation of the comprehensive database will allow government to accurately determine the number of people under its employ so that “only the appropriate funds for filled positions will be included in the national budget and be released accordingly.”

The government is the single biggest employer in the country with 1.3 million workers and spends one-third of its P1.645 trillion national spending package on payroll alone.

“The government is doing everything to ensure that we maximize our resources, and that begins with spending only what is necessary and avoiding extraneous costs because every peso counts,” Ochoa said. “If daang matuwid will save money lost to graft and corruption, daang matipid will help government save money lost to wastage and inefficiency.”

Under EO 31, the Comprehensive Database on Government Manpower (CDGM) will replace the existing Government Manpower Information System (GMIS), a computer-based management information system on employees in the Executive, Legislative and the Judiciary, as well as constitutional offices.

It also expands the coverage of the CDGM to include military personnel under the Department of National Defense, uniformed personnel of the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the Philippine Coast Guard, casual and contractual government workers, and employees of government-owned and -controlled corporations and government financial institutions.

“[T]he effective management and control of the PS expenditures require the urgent coverage in the GMIS of all the personnel in all these aforementioned departments and agencies… through the enhancement and continuous development of this information system in order to accurately determine the government’s manpower complement for budget management purposes,” the EO said.

The DBM has three years to establish the enhanced information system on government personnel. All heads of departments and agencies of the national government are required to immediately submit to the budget department complete information on positions, incumbents and authorized compensation of all civilian, military and uniformed personnel – whether they are regular, casual or contractual – and the source of their PS requirement.

To ensure responsible budgeting, agencies and department heads shall ensure that their proposed PS requirement is consistent with the CDGM and in accordance with authorized compensation.

The DBM, in coordination with the Civil Service Commission (CSC), is also instructed to conduct a regular risk-based personnel audit of the manpower complement of government agencies.