PDRRMO ready to respond despite possibility of losing JO employees

CEBU CITY, Philippines —With the possibility that some of its staff may be lost after June 28, 2019, the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) said it will still be ready to respond to incidents any time.

At least 19 of the 41-man force of the PDRRMO are job order (JO) employees, whose six-month contracts will end next Friday, June 28, 2019.

Rhee Telen Jr. of the Information Section of the PDRRMO said they hope the incoming administration of Governor-elect Gwendolyn Garcia will rehire their JO employees, especially that they are mostly handling technical roles in the department.

Despite the possibility that they may lose some of their staff, Telen said that their office remains to have sufficient people to man operations in case of incidents between June 28 up to the date when the 19 JO slots will be filled.

“We want to inform the public that despite the change of the administration, this office is still functional. Based sa atong balaod, the national [law] and in our ordinance, the PDRRMO has 17 regular positions. So, if ever unsa man ang changes mahitabo sa atong JOs that are beyond us, at least we can assure nga naa tay skeletal force,” Telen said.

(Based on our law, the PDRRMO had 17 regular positions. So, if ever there are changes with our JOs that are beyond us, at least we can assure that we have a skeletal force.)

Telen added that they already prepared the documentation of their works and that they are ready to present themselves and their capacity to Garcia and the persons who will be conducting the performance audit on the Capitol employees.

Garcia, in earlier interviews, said that she will subject all Capitol employees, from Job Order level to department heads, to performance evaluation to determine who will be rehired or retained in their current positions. /bmjo