City Administrator Collin Rosell speaks in a press conference on Wednesday, April 17, on the situation of four employees who have not received their salaries for nearly 10 months. | CDN Photo/ Pia Piquero
CEBU CITY, Philippines –The delayed salaries of the four regular Cebu City employees were blamed on their defiance, a top city hall official said.
On April 16, the four told reporters that they did not receive their salary for nearly 10 months now.
Lawyer Collin Rosell, the city administrator, explained that the employees did not receive their salary because they did not report to their assigned areas when they were asked to be reassigned.
Rosell addressed the issue in a press conference on Wednesday, April 17.
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“Every now and then, mausab ang panginahanglan sa gobyerno and ma reassign ka. As an employee in the government, you are expected to serve the people with utmost diligence and competence,” he said.
Rosell further sais that the government’s payroll processing was hindered by the uncertainty surrounding the signatory authority, particularly due to the non-compliance of these employees with the reassignment directive.
While maintaining confidentiality regarding the reasons for the reassignment of the four tax mappers, the lawyer instead explained that since the City Assessor’s Office is one of the most crucial departments in City Hall due to the important documents on properties and taxes in the city it holds, every employee working in the office should be monitored.
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“Sa atong nahibal-an, na re-assign na sila before pero di sila mo report ngadto sa ila gire-assignan kay ilang ganahan didto lang gyud sila sa Assessor’s Office. Karon kung mag storya ta og sweldo dako gyud ang problema, kay ug wala ka mo report sa imong na assign, kinsa may mo pirma sa imong time in, time out?” Rosell added.
He also mentioned that there were actually six employees reassigned from the assessor’s office, but only two reported their reassignment properly, which is why they didn’t have problems with their salaries.
On April 16, the four regular employees who were previously working in the Assessor’s Office brought their concerns to the media. They stated that the problem began when they were reassigned in June 2023.
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They questioned the relevance of their new assignments, sought advice from the Civil Service Commission (CSC) field office, and filed an appeal challenging the reassignments.
The CSC subsequently ruled that the pending reassignments were invalid.
Rosell, however, stated that every finding and decision has rules and procedures, and the resolution of the said decision by the CSC was still pending as it is still under appeal.
Meanwhile, despite the problem at hand, Rosell said that they have already been processing their delayed salaries, but it still needs to be thoroughly done, especially regarding its budget.