We, the employees of Clark Development Corporation (CDC), a self-funding, self-sustaining Government Owned and Controlled Corporation (GOCC) which is one of the biggest investment promotion agencies in the country and does not rely on government funds and even remits Php 2 Billion of its earnings to the government annually, will be losing our benefits and our salary rates will be going down as far as 30%.

The retirement pay and medical benefits, along with a huge percentage of our already uncompetitive salaries will be lost because of E.O. 150 and because of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG).

Employees who have been with CDC for 25 years or more will lose their retirement benefits. This is very unjust.

The GCG was created thru R.A. 10149 during the time of President Noynoy Aquino to rationalize the preposterous salaries and benefits which were being enjoyed by the Board of Directors and other very high officials of other GOCCs such as MWSS. 

This law is supposed to deter corruption of the higher officials, but it is now being twisted by those in power to suppress the meager earnings of employees that are not in the executive tier, or employees with rank of manager and below.

SALARY MATRIX OF WHAT WE WILL BE LOSING

The GCG, in its wisdom, created CPCS or the Compensation and Position Classification System (CPCS) for GOCCs. This CPCS is meant to standardize the salaries of all government employees.

As early as 2012, the GCG has been trumpeting the implementation of the CPCS, and in fact, even holding itself higher than the labor code by suppressing employee rights to Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) and thereby halting any salary increases for all GOCCs for the last decade.

Now they have released the Authorization to Implement (ATI) for CDC, and it is beyond disappointing. We will be losing our benefits and our salary rates will be going down as far as 30% for many. The retirement pay and medical benefits, along with a huge percentage of our already uncompetitive salaries will be lost because of E.O. 150 and because of the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG). Employees who have been with CDC for 25 years or more will lose their retirement benefits. This is very unjust.

Considering that the CPCS was meant to rationalize and standardize the salaries of all government employees and to create “a competitive compensation and remuneration system which shall attract and retain talent” within GOCCs, we strongly put forward that the recently issued ATI for the CDC has greatly failed to realize the same.

OUR SALARIES ARE BELOW INDUSTRY STANDARD.

OUR SALARIES ARE NOT AT PAR WITH OTHER GOVERNMENT AGENCIES.

It is glaringly obvious that the job grades as contained in the CDC ATI fall short in standardizing our salaries with that of other national government agencies and GOCCs.  The disparity is appalling and will work counter to one of its purposes of retaining talent within GOCCs.  

As an example, those in the same positions as ours in the other government agencies and GOCCs have been receiving more than twice what we have been receiving for the past twelve (12) years, and yet the CDC ATI has shown no regard for our plight.   It puts us at a loss rather than a gain, at a time when oil prices and inflation rates are at an all-time high.  Not to mention the impending implementation of the shift to the GSIS.

It is for this reason that we put forward this petition to the GCG.

1.      RE-EVALUATE CLARK DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION AND DEFER IMPLEMENTATION OF THE CPCS FOR CDC AND CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING:

·        RESPECT THE LABOR CODE. IT IS OUR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHT AS WORKERS! THERE SHOULD BE NO DIMINUTION OF BENEFITS

·        HONOR THE BENEFITS AND OTHER FINANCIAL PROVISIONS UNDER OUR COLLECTIVE BARGAINING AGREEMENT IN THE PAST 3 DECADES

·        WHEN YOU CONDUCT YOUR RE-EVALUATION, MAKE IT THOROUGH. DO NOT BASE IT MERELY ON PAPER SUBMISSIONS. DO ON-SITE VISITS. MAKE ACTUAL OBSERVATIONS.

·        ASSIGN THE EVALUATION TO MORE EXPERIENCED CONSULTANTS. ASSIGN THE JOB OF DOING THE EVALUATIONS TO THOSE WHO UNDERSTAND HOW CLARK DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION WORKS.

·        CONSIDER OUR OPERATIONS, OUR INCOME AND THE EXPERTISE OF OUR WORKERS WHO HAVE BEEN CONSISTENTLY CONTRIBUTING GREATLY TO THE ATTAINMENT OF THE EXTRAORDINARY ACHIEVEMENTS OF CLARK.

We pray that our appeal will be heard and given utmost attention. Thank you.

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