DAVIDE
In between jokes and before a crowd of expectant Capitol employees, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III expressed his dismay over the poor performance of provincial jail guards.
As a consequence, all 63 jail guards of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CDPRC) will be the only ones who will not receive the P10,000 cash incentive from the provincial government.
The rest of the more than 1,500 casual and regular employees of the Capitol can expect their P10,000 incentive in about two weeks from now.
“If you’re here, please, pagtinarong mo diha (behave yourselves). We’ve been in the news lately — this week, the last week — because of the continued presence of contraband inside. So I am withholding your ‘legal basis,’” he said in the latter part of his message on Sunday during the celebration of Cebu province’s 448th founding anniversary held at the Capitol Social Hall.
The governor was playfully referring to the incentive as “legal basis” after an earlier anecdote made by Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale that her driver and another employee have been asking her if the provincial government has already found their “legal basis” to grant an anniversary bonus to their employees.
“Kay kaning akong pag-withhold, duna pud niy legal basis gyud because wala ko malipay sa inyong gibuhat diha sa CPDRC. Pagtarong mo diha sa CPDRC (My decision to withhold your incentive also has legal basis because I am not happy with what you are doing there in CPDRC. Behave yourselves),” Davide said.
“Heads will roll. I can assure you, heads will roll,” he added.
Only those casual and regular employees as of August 6, and have rendered at least four months of service, will be able to get the incentive.
According to Provincial Budget Officer Danilo Rodas, the incentive is for the “superior achievements and accomplishments” of Capitol employees.
As for job order (JO) personnel, they will not be included in the incentive. But they were able to participate in yesterday’s raffle of prizes, which included a hundred winners of canned goods and ten-kilo rice packs, as well as major prizes that included washing machines, refrigerators and a flat-screen television.
Rodas explained they would be submitting a supplemental budget to the Provincial Board (PB) next week to cover the grant of the incentive as well as other urgent and necessary expenses of the Capitol. The incentive will be released a week after it is approved by the PB.
Capitol officials cited the several awards received by the provincial government as basis for the incentive. Among them are the Seal of Good Governance issued by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to Cebu provinces last year, as well as the KALASAG (Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan, Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan) award received by the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) last July.
‘Unfair’
Interviewed after his speech, Davide said only the incentives for the jail guards will be withheld “until they prove themselves” or if they can stop all the shenanigans inside the CPDRC, like the smuggling of contraband and illegal drugs.
A recent jail raid yielded 20 grams of shabu worth P236,000 and over P18,000 cash alleged as proceeds from illegal gambling. Drug paraphernalia and cell phones were also seized.
Sought for comment, CPDRC Officer-in-charge Roberto “Bobby” Legaspi said he agrees with the governor’s decision.
However, he said it will be unfair if only the jail guards will have their incentives withheld.
“It’s unfair. It should be everybody (in CPDRC) because we cannot pinpoint who’s involved, so everybody should pay. Not just one person,” Legaspi told reporters.
He said he has not yet discussed the concern with Davide, but he said he would recommend to the governor to withhold the incentives of all 133 employees assigned in the CPDRC, including the administrative staff.
Legaspi pointed out that the withholding of the incentives is a form of discipline so that all employees of the CPDRC will cooperate with the provincial government in identifying and removing those involved in jail irregularities.
“They should clean up and cooperate with the administration. Turn in the ones that are playing games there, doing illegal activities. Turn them in. Be our witness. Because everybody, they keep on saying this person does this and that. But they don’t step up and document it. Either they’re scared, or it’s like they’re protecting each other,” he said.
Fun and cheers
Aside from the bad news for CPDRC personnel, Capitol’s founding anniversary celebration yesterday was filled with fun and cheers.
Employees from the seven different clusters battled it out with their presentations that featured medleys of songs from icons of ’80s and ’90s like Backstreet Boys, Spice Girls, Michael Jackson, among others.
Capitol officials also strut their stuff.
Davide and wife Jobel had a surprise dance presentation together with Capitol department and office heads.
Later on, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale and the PB members also had their own short dance presentation.
Capitol will have a rest day today, and only a skeletal force will be present in the different offices.