Boncodin: Up to 8,000 gov’t workers face layoff

Up to 8,000 government workers are to be pensioned off this year as part of a plan to trim the million plus-strong bureaucracy, Budget Secretary Emilia Boncodin said yesterday.

The government plans to convince between 6,000 and 8,000 civil servants to agree to a voluntary retirement program this year that will cost the government P10 billion, she told ANC’s "Business Morning."

However, no government agencies will be abolished and the government is not ruling out hiring in other agencies that need additional staffing, Boncodin said.

"The more important thing here is that we are able to rationalize (government) functions," she said.

She said a trimmer bureaucracy could save the government between P6 billion and P7 billion annually.

The government has been cutting spending to reduce the budget deficit, which rose to P212.7 billion last year, or about 5.3 percent of the gross domestic product. — AFP