F

NG Staffing Summary,
2018-2021

The size of the National Government (NG) bureaucracy

has steadily increased between 2018 to 2021 except
acts
in 2020 when it declined by 5,570 positions (Table 1).
in
igures
In 2019, the number of permanent positions grew
by 39,875 or 2.16%. It may be noted that despite the
overall decline in total positions in 2020, the positions
pertaining to military and uniformed personnel (MUPs)
increased by 18,573 positions. Total count of permanent
positions in 2021 is at 1,926,797—of which 75.6% are Congressional Policy and Budget Research Department
civilian personnel and 24.4% are MUPs. House of Representatives
March 2023 (No. 21)
Table 1
Number of Permanent Positions, (2018-2021)
Particulars 2018 2019 2020 2021 Table 3 presents the top 10 departments (including
Civilian
SUCs and the Judiciary) in terms of size as of 2021.
1,435,762 1,453,880 1,429,737 1,456,526
Personnel These departments/agencies account for about 93.2%
Military/ of the total permanent positions.
Uniformed 407,433 429,190 447,763 470,271
Personnel Table 3
Total
1,843,195 1,883,070 1,877,500 1,926,797
Top 10 Departments
Positions Based on Total Permanent Positions, 2021
GROWTH Technical/ Total
Key1 Uniformed/
In Number Departments Other Permanent
39,875 (5,570) 49,297 Positions Military
of Positions Positions Positions

Rate (%) 2.16 (0.30) 2.63 DepEd 1,215 1,000,949 1,002,164


Note: Ex-Officio positions were not included in the table DILG 925 20,931 279,195 301,051
Source of basic data: Staffing Summary, 2020-2023 (DBM)
DND 167 12,720 162,249 175,136
DOH 644 88,721 89,365
Table 2 presents the breakdown of total permanent
SUCs 564 76,108 76,672
positions by position type. For the period 2018-2021,
Judiciary 5,501 35,812 41,313
technical and MUP positions account for an average
DOF 878 29,753 30,631
share of 63.7% and 23.3%, respectively. In the same
DOTr 547 6,587 22,430 29,564
period, total permanent positions grew by 83,602
with MUPs (62,838) and technical positions (18,561) DOJ 4,875 15,756 6,133 26,764

accounting for 97.4% of the overall increase. Among all DPWH 504 22,399 22,903

the position types, only those of the MUPs consistently Sub Total 15,820 1,309,736 470,007 1,795,563
grew over the years. Add: Others 10,777 120,193 264 131,234
Grand Total 26,597 1,429,929 470,271 1,926,797
Table 2
Authorized Positions Based on Position Type Note: Ex-Officio positions were not included in the table
(2018-2021) Source of basic data: Staffing Summary, 2020-2023 (DBM)

Particulars 2018 2019 2020 2021 
Constitutional 342 342 342 342 T
 he Department of Education (DepEd) continues to
Key Executive 25,980 26,310 26,448 26,255 be the largest in terms of total number of permanent
Technical 1,192,228 1,209,741 1,186,829 1,210,789
positions. In 2021, it had a total of 1,002,164 positions
Support to
(for both teaching and non-teaching staff) which
64,816 65,118 64,722 65,227
Technical accounts for over half (52%) of the total authorized
Administrative 152,396 152,369 151,396 153,913 positions of the National Government. DepEd also
Uniformed/ accounts for about 70% of the total Technical/Other
Military 407,433 429,190 447,763 470,271
Personnel Positions recorded at 1,000,949. Next to DepEd are
Total 1,843,195 1,883,070 1,877,500 1,926,797 the DILG (301,051) and the DND (175,136)—the two
Note: Ex-Officio positions were not included in the table
1
Source of basic data: Staffing Summary, 2020-2023 (DBM) Key positions include Constitutional Positions
biggest organizations that hold positions for MUPs, Table 4
Top 10 Agencies Based on 2021
which comprise about 93% of their respective total Level of Unfilled Positions
permanent positions.
Departments 2018 2019 2020 2021

Meanwhile, the Judiciary and DOJ have the highest DepEd 70,846 49,738 46,599 46,433

number of key positions pertaining to judges, DILG 29,033 36,746 38,606 26,596

prosecutors and clerks of courts. Out of the total DOH 14,432 14,384 14,030 20,051
26,597 key positions in NG, Judiciary accounts for Judiciary 13,159 13,506 12,936 13,024
5,501 (20.7%) and DOJ with 4,875 (18.3%). DOF 15,014 14,384 12,950 11,889
SUCs 8,967 8,546 9,042 9,105
Figure 1
Filled and Unfilled Positions, 2018-2021 DOJ 5,615 4,697 4,881 7,112
DND 6,563 4,792 5,001 5,847
COA 5,804 6,040 5,824 5,420
DA 3,253 3,583 3,572 3,451
Sub-Total 172,686 156,416 153,441 148,928
Add: Others 35,140 34,580 26,608 24,071
Total 207,826 190,996 180,049 172,999
Source of basic data: Staffing Summary, 2020-2023 (DBM)

Table 5 reflects the top 10 departments in terms of

unfilled positions relative to agency size. It shows that
the DOF, COA and the Judiciary are consistently the
top three in terms of ratio of unfilled-to-total positions.
Source of basic data: Staffing Summary, 2020-2023 (DBM)
The DOF, with ratios steadily declining every year, still
posted the highest between 42% and 48% in 2018-
The number of permanent positions grew by 83,602 2020.
during the period 2018-2021 with the unfilled positions Table 5
steadily decreasing from 207,826 in 2018 to 172,999 Top 10 Agencies Based on 2021
Ratio of Unfilled-to-Total Positions
in 2021. As a share to total number of plantilla
Department 2018 2019 2020 2021
positions, unfilled positions declined from 11.3% to
DepEd 7.33 5.09 4.72 4.63
9.0% within the same period (Figure 1). In 2020, the
newly created Department of Human Settlements DILG 10.93 13.04 13.04 8.83

and Urban Development (DHSUD) had the highest DOH 19.83 18.95 17.70 22.44
unfilled-to-total positions at 78% followed by the Office Judiciary 32.65 32.93 31.46 31.53
of the Ombudsman, DICT, DOF and COA with ratios DOF 48.10 46.01 42.32 38.81
ranging from 41% to 45%. SUCs 12.06 11.37 11.90 11.88

Table 4 presents the top 10 departments/agencies DOJ 23.59 19.77 19.69 26.57

based on 2021 level of unfilled positions. Combined DND 4.14 2.97 3.06 3.34
vacant positions of the top 10 departments/agencies COA 41.16 42.83 41.30 40.80
account for 86% of total 172,999 unfilled positions DA 26.68 28.28 28.34 27.34
recorded in 2021. The DepEd posted the highest Source of basic data: Staffing Summary, 2020-2023 (DBM)
number of vacant positions accounting for 26.8%
of total unfilled positions in NG. Meanwhile, unfilled
Although not on the top list of agencies in terms
positions in DILG and DOH accounted for 15.4% and
of number of unfilled positions, the COA had the
11.6%, respectively, of the total unfilled positions in
highest ratio of unfilled-to-total positions in 2021.
2021.
It was able to fill up only about 60% of its total
It may be noted that the DepEd was able to significantly permanent positions that year. It may be noted that
reduce its unfilled positions from 70,846 in 2018 to only DepEd and DOF showed consistent decline in
46,433 in 2021. On the other-hand, the DOH has their respective ratios of unfilled-to-total positions
increased its number of unfilled positions from 14,432 in 2018-2021. Meanwhile, the DOJ had the biggest
to 20,051 in the same period. increase in percentage points (6.9) in 2021.
.