GENERAL SANTOS CITY (MindaNews/14 January) — In a bid to improve its operations and service delivery, the provincial government of South Cotabato is working on a major reorganization this year of its service offices and personnel.
Gov. Daisy Avance-Fuentes said Tuesday they are currently evaluating the structure and operations of their departments, divisions and sections to come up with more appropriate and rationalized configuration for the local government.
She said they have created a special review body, which is dubbed organizational management committee, to spearhead the evaluation process.
“The results of the review or evaluation will serve as basis for the reorganization and the structural changes in our offices,” the governor said.
Fuentes said the committee, which is led by the provincial human resource management and development office (HRMDO), earlier started the evaluation on the Office of the Provincial Agriculturist (OPAG) and the Provincial Assessor’s Office (PAO).
She said they prioritized the two offices since some of their divisions and sections are presently headed by officers-in-charge (OIC) and their structure and operations need immediate reforms or changes.
The governor said the PAO needs a major overhaul and rationalization as some of its functions were already delegated to the municipal assessor’s offices as a result of the computerization of the province’s real property assessment system.
The PAO has also expanded from two to five divisions these past several years despite the transfer of some of its functions to their municipal counterparts.
For the OPAG, she said the office has remained under an OIC due to the personnel movements caused by the retirement of its designated head last year.
Fuentes said some of its divisions and sections were also headed by OICs as a result of the personnel changes.
Most of the current positions occupied by OPAG personnel are for agricultural technologists, which are not deemed appropriate anymore since the office’s functions are now based on its programs and projects, she said.
Zenaida Duron, provincial HRMDO chief, said the evaluation process covers the review of the staffing patterns, functions, workflow, delegation of authority and other structural and operational aspects of their offices.
She said they are targeting to complete within this month the evaluation and implement their recommendations for the reorganization of the OPAG and PAO.
She said the evaluation will next cover the Provincial Engineer’s Office, Provincial Treasurer’s Office and the Provincial Budget Office.
Duron said this year’s reorganization is the first for the local government since the reformation in 1987 of the country’s local government system and the passage of the Local Government Code in 1991.
Under the Local Government Code, she cited that local governments are allowed to come up with their own structures that they deem “workable and doable.”
She added that the provincial government has not yet exceeded its limitation for personnel services and that it can still add new positions as it would deem necessary in its upcoming reorganization. (MindaNews)
