RP to drop up to 8,000 govt workers

RP to drop up to 8,000 govt workers

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

Manila 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 10 billion pesos (US$188 million), she said on ABS-CBN television.

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 six and seven billion pesos ($113-$131 million) annually. -- AFP