A PARTY-LIST group is seeking a Legislative inquiry into the award of Phase 2 of the computerization project of the civil registry system (CRS) to the US company Unisys.
House Resolution 592, filed by Party-list Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate of Bayan Muna, has won the support of 1,229 contractuals at the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).
Zarate, who sought the investigation of the P1.59-billion, 12-year contract, said the transaction was flawed from the very start since it was granted to a lone bidder that had been sharply criticized by the Commission on Audit (COA) in its reports in 2005 and 2015.
The original contract was also extended twice, according` to Zarate, under strange circumstances, with the PSA invoking approvals by an unnamed “higher authority.”
In a letter to Zarate, the Association of Contractual Employees of Statistics (ACES) said now there are currently 1,229 service contractors in the PSA who are tied to a “no work, no pay” policy with no benefits.
They asked Zarate to initiate another investigation into the contractualization policy being pursued by the PSA and implemented by Unisys.
ACES also opposed the privatization of CRS, which would mean that Unisys will manage and control all the contractuals.
“Sa kasalukuyan po, kaming mga service contractor ay napipintong mailipat sa Unisys [system provider], ganun din ang 100 percent na pag-opereyt ng CRS sa kasunduang proyektong ITP-2 ng PSA at Unisys, na ang ibubunga po ay walang kasiguraduhan sa empleyo, sapagka’t dadaan pa po kami sa masusing ebalwasyon sa loob ng limang buwan [Currently, we service contractors are poised to be transferred to Unisys along with the 100 percent operation of the CRS under the project ITP-2 of Unisys and the PSA. This does not guarantee our being employed, as we would be evaluated in five months],” ACES said.
The contractual employees said the PSA has been coaxing them to support the new contract won by Unisys, a US company based in Blue Bell, Pennsylvania, which had already offered only 1,170 positions, meaning 59 of the contractuals would immediately be dismissed, Zarate said.
“This again demonstrates the evil of contractualization. Like the questionable contract entered by the PSA and Unisys, this also merits an investigation, which we hope that the House leadership will schedule soon when Congress resumes its session,” Zarate said.
“Pinapangakuan kami na di umano ay magiging regular kami sa loob ng 12 taon, dadaan kami sa limang buwan na probasyon para sa masusing ebalwasyon batay sa kanilang nais. Ang 12 taon ay pinahaba lamang ng kontrata at porma din ng kontraktwalisasyon at malinaw na hindi nito katumbas ang pagiging regular. Nanatiling walang katiyakan ang mga empleyado sa pagpasok ng Unisys sa CRS [Unisys promised us that we will become regular for 12 years after undergoing a five-month evaluation based on their needs. The 12 years refers to the extended deal and is but another form of contractualization and is clearly not equivalent to our being regular employees. There will be no job security for us when Unisys completes its control over CRS],” the letter added.
ACES members have been working with the CRS for many years in processing civil documents, like birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates and others.
“Karamihan po sa amin ay dito na tumanda, binuhos ang lakas paggawa at marami pang sakripisyo. Halimbawa na lamang nang pagpasok ng kahit may bagyo at mga holidays na hindi naman doble pasahod ang natatanggap. Kami’y nababahala sa matagal ng serbisyo namin,tulad na lamang ng pinagdaanan ng mga empleyado noong na-merge ang dating NSO sa PSA halimbawa, pag-demote sa mga regular at casual bilang kontraktwal. Kapag Unisys na ang aming empleyo ay mawawalan ng saysay ang dekada, at mahabang taon ng aming serbisyo sa PSA at sa dating NSO [Many of us have grown old in the service, spending their labor and sacrificing their time even during holidays and typhoons without getting double the pay. We fear that what happened to us in the past will happen again, as when the National Statistics Office and the PSA were merged and many of us who were regulars and casuals were demoted to contractuals. Once the Unisys takes over, our long service with the PSA and NSO would be rendered worthless],” ACES argued.
“We believe that the collection and processing of civil documents should not be controlled by a foreign company, like Unisys, since it would lead to higher fees and charges for the processing of the same documents that many people need. These are basic documents that government should control and manage. Basic government services should not be privatized,” the group added.