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Over 50 Cebu City Hall employees unpaid since October 2024

Non-payment of salaries blamed on ‘power-tripping’ by some admin officers

By: Pia Piquero - Multimedia Reporter - CDN Digital | February 04,2025 - 06:03 PM

Over 50 Cebu City Hall employees unpaid since October 2024

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

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Over 50 employees coming from 24 Cebu City Hall offices have not been paid their salaries, with some dating as far back as October 2024.

The unpaid workers consist of job order, casual, and regular employees.

Henry Tomalabcad, head of the Human Resource Development Office (HRDO), said this may be caused by incomplete payroll submissions and the possible “power-tripping” by their administrative officers.

READ: 4 Cebu City ex-tax mappers cry: Give us our 10 months worth of salaries

Tomalabcad said in an interview on Tuesday, February 4, that notices were already sent to the heads of the 24 offices with unpaid employees, asking them to explain the causes of the delay.

He said that those who will be found causing delays in the processing of salaries risk suspension and their possible termination from government service.

Overlooked

Earlier, HRDO learned that employees from 10 City Hall offices have not been getting their wages.  During their inquiry, they learned that there were 14 other offices with unpaid employees.

READ: EXPLAINER: Rama suspension and why the Ombudsman ordered it?

“Naa mi nasakpan nga dili kompleto gyud ila report. Naa may ni sekreto ug complaint kay mahadlok siya nga mag away. So, pag submit sa opisina sa report, wala gyud apila iyang pangalan so among gipatawag ang payroll maker amo gikasab-an kay wala kompletoha ang report,” he said.

(We were able to identify an office with an incomplete report.  One employee secretly approached us to log a complaint to avoid any misunderstanding [with their payroll maker].  When we got the report from their office, his name was not included, so we called the attention of the payroll maker and directed the said individual to submit a complete report.)

READ: Cebu City Council OKs release of unpaid salaries for 4 employees

During their review, they learned that a government doctor was among those with unpaid salaries.  The non-payment of the doctor’s salary was blamed on negligence after this was reportedly overlooked by their payroll marker.

“Mao to nag-issue mi og memorandum asking for status reports, and true enough, daghan pa gyud ang mga wala na-process. Although lahi-lahi ang justifications, makasabot man ta sa department head kay uban ana, wala ma-comply ang mga requirements sa mga empleyado,” he said.

READ: Cebu City: Proposed SB 3 to include allocation for wage hike

(We did issue a memorandum asking for a status report and true enough, there were those with unprocessed payroll.  We received different justifications and we also understand the sentiments of the department heads because there are really those who failed to comply with the requirements.)

‘Power-tripping’

Tomalabcad is reminding office heads and payroll makers to always observe caution in the exercise of their administrative functions.

“Makaingon ta nga usahay, kining atong mga empleyado, mugamit sa ilang [gahum] ug magpaka-powerful, nga ang mga tawo nga dili nila ganahan, ilang langan-langanon ang sweldo. Dili nato ni dapat buhaton, mao nga ato sila pressure-on nga buhaton ang ilang trabaho, kay mao ra baya na ila trabaho—sweldohan ang mga empleyado,” he said.

(Sometime, we can say that some employees use their power and influence to cause delays in the processing of the salaries of those who they do not like. We should not be doing that and it is for this reason that we are exerting pressure to ask them to do their jobs because that is what they are supposed to do – make sure that the employees are paid.)

Tomalabcad said that the last time that salaries were unpaid at City Hall, a public official was ordered dismissed by the Office of the Ombudsman.  He was referring to former mayor Michael Rama.

Status reports

To address the issue on unpaid salaries, Tomalabcad said he issued a Memorandum dated January 6 asking department heads to submit within 72 hours a status report on all unprocessed salary claims.

On January 3, Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia also directed all department heads to prioritize the payroll issues of their subordinates.

Garcia said that ensuring that salaries are released on time is crucial in keeping employees motivated and in ensuring the efficient delivery of government services.

“If an employee is happy, mas tunhay ug epektibo siya sa iyang trabaho (he becomes efficient in the performance of his task). Ug tungod sa ingon, malipay usab ang mga kliyente (And because of that, the clients are also happy),” Garcia added.

Garcia mentioned as an example the six employees of the City Assessors Office who were unpaid for 10 months.

“Do you expect the employee to be happy without salary for 10 months? No! And do you expect them to be effective? Dili. Di ko mosugot ana (No. I will not allow that),” he said.

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TAGS: Cebu City, employees, unpaid salaries
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