Rama wants ‘substantially reduced human force’ at City Hall in 6 months

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama | File photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama wants to see a “substantially reduced human force” at the different offices at City Hall in the next six months.

In a statement released by the Public Information Office (PIO), Rama said, his plans are aligned with the “rightsizing” policy of President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr.

“After six months, we will have a substantially reduced human resource. There will be a no-nonsense rightsizing program,” the mayor told department heads during a recent video conference via Zoom.

Rama said this would mean a drop in the number of employees. But he expects his plan to also promote efficiency in the performance of the respective duties and functions of those who will remain at City Hall.

The mayor has tasked Lawyer Josephus Jimenez, a labor laws expert, to work with the Human Resource and Development Office (HRDO) to ensure implementation of his righsizing plans.

Moreover, Rama also asked the heads of City Hall departments and offices to commit to bring about a “sound fiscal management” in their respective offices.

Rama wants them to pursue programs that will increase revenues to fund the city’s budgetary needs in the implementation of projects that will benefit its constituency.

Collections

During a recent budget conference, City Accountant Jerome Ornopia said that the city’s collections have been declining in the last three years.

In 2019, the city’s gross collection was around P7.7 billion. This went down to P7.3 billion in 2020, and P6.6 billion in 2021.

Ornopia said one of the reasons for this is the decline in the amount of business taxes collected by the city. This happened as a number of businesses have also decide to cease their operations as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.

City Treasurer Mare Vae Reyes, for her part, said they will propose an increase in the city’s fees and charges for services with hopes to increase the city’s revenues this year.

She also asked the other department heads to submit their own proposals on how they should do this.  Her office can collate all the proposals.

The budget forum is part of the city’s budgeting process, which began when Mayor Rama issued a budget call.

After the forum, each of the departments and offices at City Hall will be tasked to prepare and submit their respective budget proposals for 2023.

This will be followed by a mock budget hearing with the Local Finance Committee, the preparation of the Local Expenditure Program, and the issuance of a Budget Message by the mayor.

The proposed executive budget for 2023 must be submitted to the Sangguniang Panlungsod on or before October 16 in order to complete the process.

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