About 2,000 government employees are bracing themselves for the first wave of job cuts under a Malacañang plan to rationalize agencies under the executive branch, the head of a group of state workers.

A total of 801 employees of the National Food Authority (NFA) and about 1,200 workers at the Bureau of Customs are in danger of losing their jobs, said Ferdie Gaite, president of the Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Achievement of Government Employees.

“NFA workers were given notices of redundancy in December and they were given 60 days to decide if they want to transfer to other agencies or opt for early retirement,” Gaite said in an interview.

He said most of the workers who got their papers were laborers, such as those who handle sacks of rice in NFA warehouses manually.

The BoC employees were also given their notices early this month, Gaite added.

The BoC Employees Association said in a statement that 700 of its members had received such notices and were given up to 15 days to decide on which option to take.

It said automation of warehousing operations would result in the removal of security guards, warehousemen and storekeepers, as well as workers detailed with the bureau’s water patrol and radio communications divisions.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2004 signed Executive Order No. 366, which calls for a “strategic review” of agencies under the executive branch with the aim of weeding out redundant or outdated jobs.

Last month, Economic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto said rationalization would have to be considered at a time when domestic and overseas jobs are under threat.

Recto said the Department of Budget and Management, the lead agency in the rationalization initiative, had so far approved related plans covering four departments, including 11 attached agencies, 11 government-owned or -controlled corporations and 15 entities classified as “other agencies.”

These four plans alone would affect a total of 7,898 regular employees and 1,189 contractual workers, which translate to a possible saving of P757 million for the government.

Gaite said these plans included deactivation of Quedan Rural Credit and Guarantee Corp., which would affect some 1,000 employees.

“The rationalization plan should be scrapped,” Gaite said, adding that the government should ensure job security instead of taking them away at a time of crisis. With editing by INQUIRER.net