News update Aquino orders non-career appointees to vacate posts

The Aquino administration made the first step to undo the midnight appointments of former President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, right on its first day of governance, by ordering non-career presidential appointees to vacate their posts immediately.

All top government positions now occupied by Arroyo appointees who are not career executive service officers (CESO) were declared vacant by Memorandum Circular 1, which was signed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr. and announced by presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda in a press briefing Wednesday.

The vacated positions will be taken over by the most senior CESO in each affected agency, who will act as officer in charge until July 31, 2010 or until a replacement has been appointed, according to the memo-circular as explained by Lacierda.

Asked however whether the order covers those Arroyo-appointed officials tagged as midnight appointments, Lacierda clarified: "That is yet to be decided. We are tackling the matter and treating that as a different issue."

Meanwhile, the same memo-circular extended the services of contractual employees whose contracts expire on June 30, 2010. Their contractual status was extended up to July 31, 2010 unless otherwise terminated or renewed by the heads of their hiring agencies.

Among those whose services were extended were the employees at the Internal House Affairs Office which include chefs, cooks, housekeeping and maintenance personnel.

Lacierda said the memorandum was issued "to prevent the unnecessary disruption of government operations and the impairment of all processes and transactions as well as delivery of services to the people."

The memorandum-circular also directed officials and personnel who will vacate their positions to ensure an orderly turnover of records, books, documents, and properties.

Co-terminus officials

Malacañang had earlier said it is leaving to the incoming administration the fate of some 50,000 government employees, including co-terminus and contractual workers, whose terms will end on June 30. (See: Palace asks Aquino to decide on fate of 50K govt workers before June 30)

Former Presidential Management Staff (PMS) head Elena Bautista-Horn had asked the Aquino transition team to issue the appropriate directive before that date.

According to Bautista-Horn, of the 4,301 executive and managerial positions, 4,244 are considered vacated as the officials in those posts have retired or resigned.

She said there are only 67 co-terminus managerial officials left in the government, including Cabinet members, undersecretaries and assistant secretaries.

Expected EO on midnight appointments

In a VERA Files article posted Wednesday, former Senior Government Officials (FSGO) member Lito Banayo and former Civil Service Commission chair Karina Constantino-David said Arroyo was bequeathing Aquino with a bureaucracy littered with "landmines" in the form of hundreds of "midnight appointments" that could weaken the new President's control.

At least 58 people were appointed after the March 10 appointments ban and at least 20 after the May 10 elections, the VERA Files story reported.

In the same report, Banayo said there was at first a debate on whether Aquino should release an executive order (EO) declaring all midnight appointments null and void, or deal with the appointments on a case-to-case basis.

The move to come up with separate EOs seems to be more effective, he added.—JV