JULY 16, 2023: A glimpse at the facade of the Cebu City Hall. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa
CEBU CITY, Philippines — “Honeymoon period is over.”
This was how Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia started his speech when announcing that he would be evaluating the performance of the Cebu City Hall employees in a few months.
“Inig end sa September, humana naman gyud ang atong honeymoon period, pila nata ka buwan [from] May, June, July, August, [then] September. So, after the next three months, we will make an evaluation,” Garcia said during the flag-raising ceremony on Monday.
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He said he already instructed the Human Resource and Development Office (HRDO) and the department heads to provide him a report on the employees of the different departments and as well as their recommendations.
He said he would also form his own evaluation committee to evaluate all employees including regular, casual, and job orders (JO).
“I intend to pursue katong gisugdan ni Mayor Mike. Katong sa atong downsizing or rightsizing nga gitawag. So at the end of September of this year, padung na sa October, we will already know kinsa atong ipangrenew or kung kinsay dili ipangrenew,” Garcia said.
(I intend to pursue that one that was started by Mayor Mike. The one that we called downsizing or rightsizing. So at the end of September of this year, heading to October, we will already know who will be ones that we will renew or who will be the ones that we will not renew.)
He assured that it would be a “fair evaluation” after observing that there were employees who did not have any workloads, while there were also who have multiple and “redundant functions.”
When he meets with the HRDO and the evaluation committee, he is hopes that they could come up with clear cut guidelines on the renewal of contracts by the end of September.
But he said he would inform the employees in the first week of September on whoever would get to be renewed or not.
“And then, of course, naa man jud tay due process, I will allow an appeal on that particular employee,” he said.
(And then, of course, we have due process, I will allow an appeal on that particular employee.)
“For the next three months and even forever, ayaw na tawn mo’g pabadlong kay the evaluation, I am very serious on the evaluation for the next three months,” he added.
(For the next three months and even forever, please don’t be naughty because the evaluation, I am very serious on the evaluation for the next three months.)
Garcia said in a previous interview that the City Government is now hiring qualified applicants to fill in over 2,000 regular plantilla positions at City Hall.
This hiring initiative comes in response to a recent Commission on Audit (COA) report that flagged the city’s reliance on temporary staffing. The 2023 COA report revealed 2,311 vacant plantilla positions, which translated to P2.192 billion in unutilized funds.
At present, the City Hall has 1,321 permanent employees and 2,776 casual staff. | with reports from Pia Piquero