Rama: Over 1K Cebu City Hall employees to lose jobs this 2024

A glimpse at the facade of the Cebu City Hall. | CDN Digital file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines – Over a thousand government employees are set to lose their jobs this 2024 as the Cebu City Hall begin the process of rightsizing its workforce, Mayor Michael Rama said.

Rama said that by 2025, City Hall should only have 3,000 of the more than 9, 000 employees left.

“We wish to be paperless, seamless, and [have] less physical interaction. That alone, we are bold in making it implemented,” Rama said.

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

In a press conference on Tuesday, January 2, Rama clarified that the rightsizing of employees was not an expression of “bitterness” but rather a “management prerogative.”

“When I became mayor, there were only 4,000 plus employees and now of course there was Covid… Then it shoot up to 10,000 plus employees,” Rama said.

Rama said that since the pandemic was finally over and as a commitment to fostering an environment that is conducive to business, he wanted all of the 27 City Hall departments to be connected online.

“The 27 departments are expected to be connected online so there will be less people coming to City Hall,” he said.

Waste of money

As of press time, the city has at least 9,000 employees at City Hall, including the job order (JO) and casual employees.

Rama said the Commission on Audit (COA) earlier called the attention of the city government regarding its JOs for their “inefficiency and waste of money.”

Rama said he wants to heed COA’s observation and get rid of inefficient JOs and other non-performing government personnel.

“We will be pursuing for the purposes of sustainability. I’m looking at 6 months time,” he said.

JOs and casuals who are found to be inefficient will no longer be renewed.

The mayor warned that even regular employees risk termination.

Evaluation

Henry Tomalabcad, head of the Human Resource Development Office (HRDO), said that each of the department heads will be asked to evaluate and assess the performance of their personnel based on the criteria that Rama provided.

The outcome of their evaluation will be submit to the HRDO for another round of assessment.

“Ang civil service man gud very particular sa violation sa human resource.  Kun mahimo wala natay casual puhon kay kung mahimo fill upan nato ang vacant postions nga naa sa plantilla,” Tomalabcad said.

Rama said drug test results will also be used as a basis for termination or the non-renewal of contracts.

Suzanne Ardosa, the head of the Department of Manpower Development and Placement (DMDP), said that city government currently has over 3,000 plantilla positions.

“As of the moment, our official document is our platilla. Ang civil service dili mo encourage kung mag hire tag dili regular if atong mga bakanteng position dili ma fill upan… Kana maoy figure nga mahabilin kaning atong plantilla by 2025,” Ardosa said.

Plantilla position refers to a regular, budgeted, and officially approved position in a government or organizational structure.

These positions are included in the plantilla of personnel, which identify the number and kind of positions that an organization is authorized to have.

Livelihood assistance

Ardosa said employees who will be displaced or no longer renewed will be provided with employment opportunities and livelihood assistance.

She said that they are working with certain agencies, including the Department of Labor and Employment, to provide assistance to those who will be affected by the city’s rightisizing plans.

Rama said that rightsizing at City Hall was supposed to start on October 2023, but it was postponed to 2024 on the request of Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia to allow government employees to receive their Christmas bonuses.

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Rama: 6,000 Cebu City Hall employees to lose jobs before 2025