Moratorium on the Filling of Regular Positions and Hiring of New Personnel, and Authority to Renew Appointments/Contracts

June 15, 2007 BIR MEMORANDUM TO : All Revenue Officials and Employees Concerned SUBJECT : Moratorium on the Filling of Regular Positions and Hiring of New Personnel, and Authority to Renew Appointments/Contracts For the information and guidance of all concerned, please disseminate in all Bureau Offices the attached copy of DBM Circular Letter No. 2007-8 signed by Secretary Rolando G. Andaya, Jr. dated May 28, 2007 relative to the above-mentioned subject matter. HTAEIS You are enjoined to post the copy of this issuance in your Office Bulletin Board, or in a conspicuous place within your Office, to ensure that it shall be given the most extensive publicity possible. (SGD.) VIRGINIA L. TRINIDAD Deputy Commissioner Resource Management Group ATTACHMENT May 28, 2007 DBM CIRCULAR LETTER NO. 08-07 TO : Heads of Departments and Agencies of the Executive Branch, Including Government-Owned and/or Controlled Corporations (GOCCs), Government Financial Institutions (GFIs), and All Others Concerned SUBJECT : Moratorium on the Filling of Regular Positions and Hiring of New Personnel, and Authority to Renew Appointments/Contracts 1.0 Purpose This Circular Letter is being issued to: 1.1 Reiterate the continuing moratorium on the filling of vacant regular/permanent/itemized positions by Departments/Agencies of the Executive Branch and the hiring of new casuals/contractuals, including personnel on consultancy/emergency/job order basis, while their respective Rationalization Plan has not yet been approved; and 1.2 Extend the authority of Department Secretaries/Agency Heads to renew the appointments of personnel on casual/temporary status and the contracts of personnel under contractual/consultancy/emergency/job order basis for a specific period. 2.0 Guidelines 2.1 The moratorium of the filling of regular/permanent/itemized positions, either through original appointment, promotion, transfer or reemployment, and the hiring of new casual/contractuals, including personnel on consultancy/emergency/job order basis, shall continue to be implemented in all Departments/Agencies/GOCCs/GFIs of the Executive Branch whose Rationalization Plan has not been approved by this Department, consistent with Section 7 of Executive Order No. 366 and Section 13.a of its Implementing Rules and Regulations, as reiterated under DBM Circular Letters No. 2005-08, 2006-02, 2006-09 and 2006-15 dated 03 June 2005, 05 January 2006, 20 June 2006 and 27 November 2006, respectively. The temporary suspension shall not apply to teaching positions, medical and allied medical items in hospitals and other medical facilities servicing agency clients, as well as to the uniformed positions in the Departments of National Defense, Interior and Local Government, Transportation and Communications, and Environment and Natural Resources. However, medical and allied medical positions which primarily provide service to agency personnel are covered by the moratorium. 2.2 Department/Agency Heads shall be allowed to renew the appointments of personnel on casual/temporary status and the contracts of personnel under contractual/consultancy/emergency/job order basis for the period that the Department/Agency is undergoing rationalization activities, but not to go beyond one (1) month after the approval of the agency's Rationalization Plan or 31 December 2007, whichever comes earlier, except those personnel whose authorized period of hiring should not go beyond 30 June 2007 and those with specific deliverables for a set timeframe, subject to pertinent budgetary, civil service, accounting and auditing rules and regulations. In the renewal of the appointments/contracts of personnel, the following provisions shall apply: a. For National Government Agencies, the funds appropriated for the purpose are sufficient and the action would not entail additional budgetary release or the realignment of non-Personal Services (PS) funds to PS; b. In the case of GOCCs, funds for the purpose shall be charged against the internally-generated funds/project funds included in the Board-approved Corporate Operating Budget; c. The maximum number of personnel whose contracts/appointments would be renewed shall not exceed the actual employees at the start of the Department/Agency's rationalization efforts, as adjusted by the DBM-authorized hiring of a new/additional personnel; and d. There shall be no new hiring and/or replacement of resigned/retired/separated/terminated/regularized staff. 2.3 The renewal of appointments/contracts of personnel for projects with DBM-approved staffing pattern shall be limited to the existing number of authorized positions and to the set timeframe for hiring. 3.0 Responsibility Clause It shall be the responsibility of the Department Secretaries and equivalent Agency Heads to strictly implement the provisions of this Circular Letter. 4.0 Applicability Clause The provisions of this Circular Letter shall be applicable until revoked. 5.0 Effectivity This Circular Letter shall take effect upon its publication in a newspaper of general circulation. (SGD.) ROLANDO G. ANDAYA, JR. Secretary Published in The Manila Times on June 5, 2007.