TOLEDO City officials are still waiting for the memorandum from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) 7 that will release the salaries and wages of more than 1,500 regular and job-order employees at City Hall.
Acting Toledo City Mayor Antonio Yapha told SunStar Cebu that he hopes the DILG 7 will act on the memorandum soon as their employees have not been paid their salaries for five months now starting May this year.
Last week, DILG 7 Director Leocardio Trovela held a meeting with Yapha and Toledo City Mayor John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña to help the two reach an agreement after their rift started affecting the payment of salaries for their employees.
Trovela decided that Yapha will stay as acting mayor until the DILG Central Office will act on the Court of Appeals decision clearing Osmeña of his grave abuse charges.
Trovela said he plans to issue a memorandum to Yapha that will allow him to authorize acting Toledo City Administrator Ferdinand Marquez to release the salaries of their employees.
Yapha hopes this issue will be resolved soon especially that the non-payment of salaries of City Hall employees has slightly affected their delivery of basic services. The unpaid salaries include those of the medical personnel at the City Health Office and the Toledo City Hospital.
Yapha said the services of both offices have remained normal and no regular and job order employee has left his or her post despite the non-payment of their salaries.
This after he assured them that he will approve the release of their salaries last month.
Yapha, however, had to seek the DILG’s help last week, saying the city treasurer has not honored his signature on the employees’ payroll.
Marquez, in a separate interview, said they plan to visit the DILG 7 office today to secure the authority. He also hopes that Yapha will lift his previous order to cancel his appointment as acting city administrator so he can release the salaries for the employees.
Marquez, head of the City Planning and Architect’s Office, was initially appointed by Osmeña as acting city administrator when he returned to his post last May.
But following the DILG’s decision to restore Yapha as acting mayor, the vice mayor cancelled Marquez’s appointment. (JKV)