Thursday, October 09, 2008 Urdaneta council cuts casual workers to 40 By Liway C. Manantan-Yparraguirre
THE more than 80 casual employees at the Urdaneta City council will be reduced to 40.
The City Council passed last Monday an appropriation ordinance for the October to December salaries of only 40 casual employees. It allotted P1.2 million of the P11 million supplemental budget for their pays.
"Vice Mayor Julio Parayno has no alternative but to prune the number of casuals. Above and beyond that number (40), it is his problem and responsibility where to get the fund for their salaries," said Mayor Amadeo Perez Jr.
Perez said the maximum number of casuals assigned to a councilor is three. With 12 councilors in the city, the total number should have been 36 plus some employees assigned to the Office of the Vice Mayor and to the City Council secretariat.
The maximum number of casual workers at the legislative branch is 60. Problem on payment of their salaries arise when their number doubled.
"During the incumbency of Vice Mayor Parayno, he appointed casuals until it reached 125. So the fund was exhausted as early as June 2008," the mayor remarked.
Perez further said the vice mayor used other funds, like the monthly operating expenses, for the casuals' salaries that there was nothing left that can be used by the councilors who will attend the Philippine Councilors League-Pangasinan convention in Baguio City held recently.
From 125, the number of casuals was first reduced to 110. It was further cut to about 80.
Accordingly, the councilors bewailed Parayno's move to lay off the employees assigned to them and replaced them with those accommodated politically by the vice mayor.
"We don't know where the other casual employees are assigned," Perez said.
"He allegedly instructed the city personnel officer to assign them to the different offices or departments like at the market division and others. I told the department heads not to accept those being assigned to them by Vice Mayor Parayno especially because there is no fund for their salaries," he remarked.
Allegedly, Parayno stated that it was just right for the legislative branch to employ such number of casuals as "the city mayor is allowed to have 470 casuals."
But Perez clarified that the 470 are casuals not only of the Office of the City Mayor but of the entire City Government.
"These are janitors, garbage collectors, collectors assigned to the public market, cattle market, and other casuals performing manual work. There are even engineers and nurses who are casuals because we don't have items for them," the mayor further explained.
