Panabo new City Hall/photo by Rural Urban News
Some 200 of the 700 workers in Panabo City Government will be losing their jobs due to the implementation of the ongoing reorganization scheme that already started February 1.
“For sure there will about 200 workers who could no longer return to work as we implement the ordinance on reorganization to make our government machinery work efficiently and effectively,” said city administrator Nemesio Rasgo.
City ordinance 43 enacted last year fixed only 400 posts to be filled up arising out from new organizational structure and classification of positions.
On last Monday convocation, the city administrator announced that contractual workers whose contracts ended last January 31 would have to stop working and wait for the end of the first quarter for possible re-hiring when the city government could generate additional income like the refund of the amount the city lost from Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) shared by the 16 cities that were classified back to their status as municipalities.
Those who would be displaced though are contractual workers who were employed on programs and need-basis, Rasgo said.
Last January 31 contracts of casual and contractual workers ended and the city placement committee headed by Rasgo is at press time renewing contracts of relevant positions.
He said that City Mayor Jose Silvosa Sr wanted to professionalize the city bureaucracy and “insulate personnel from politics”.
There is unwanted situation in local governments on workers being beholden to politicians in power and are therefore bound to work for the politics of the administration that they are in.
Rasgo said that permanent employees need not worry but he said there would be reassignments to fit personnel to work and eliminate the sight of city workers just sitting on their table without work.
“Way klaro ang mga tawo sa opisina (There’s unclear personeling in offices),” he said referring to the situation that the Silvosa administration inherited to the previous administration of former Mayor Rey Gavina.
“We want to have a lean and mean government structure that works,” he added.
On the other hand, in separate interview, Mayor Silvosa said that the reorganization was not his own making but by the legislative department of the previous administration.
He said that the present reorganization plan was started four years ago and the involved city councils including the present had thoroughly studied it based on civil service laws and and tapped various authorities as resource persons during its formulation.
“I am just here to implement the ordinance as a chief executive,” he said.
An undetermined number of casual employees, whose contracts are renewed every six months, especially those employed by the previous administration are reportedly expressing anxieties of losing their jobs.
City administrator Rasgo said that there are casual and contractual personnel in the city hall whose appointing authority is no longer in office, in obvious reference to Gavina, who had served as city mayor for three consecutive terms or nine years.
“Job order and even casual employees have not other recourse but work for the politics of the power holders so as continue working. It’s just okay for the permanent employees as they usually hide or go neutral during the campaign period,” a casual employee from the office of he city vice mayor said on the condition of anonimity.
Meanwhile, Councilor and ABC President Ferdinand Gocon said that the job order workers employed in legislative department are not included in the no-work order of the executive department.
He said that city councilors have usually five personnel staff, three of whom are co-terminus and two are contractual in employment status.
The city vice mayor’s office has reportedly bloated staff numbering over 20 personnel. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)
Filed under: former panabo mayor rey gavina, nemesio rasgo, panabo abc president ferdinand gocon, panabo vice mayor james gamao, panbo city mayor jose silvosa sr., former panabo mayor rey gavina, nemesio rasgo, panabo abc president ferdinand gocon, panabo vice mayor james gamao, panbo city mayor jose silvosa sr.
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