IS the Davide administration getting back at members of the Cebu Provincial Board who didn’t authorize the governor to enter into a contract for the construction of Capitol’s P1.3-billion Resource Center?
This is what some Provincial Board (PB) members believe after the Provincial Human Resource Management Office (PHRMO) didn’t renew the contract of some of their job order (JO) workers.
But PHRMO head Bonifer Nacorda denied there was anything political in the non-renewal of the contracts of 17 JO workers assigned to the PB members starting Jan. 1.
“I understand that the election is coming. Due to my mandate as HRMO, plus the fact that our office has been recognized by the Civil Service Commission, meaning I’m also protecting our accreditation, hiring of personnel has never been political to me. I’ve always been very objective so that I cater only within the limited budget to the vacancies that are integral to the day-to-day operations of the agency,” Nacorda said in Cebuano.
The issue came to light after SunStar Cebu and Superbalita Cebu columnist Bobby Nalzaro disclosed in his column that Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III was using the non-renewal of contracts for JO workers as a way to retaliate against PB members who didn’t favor giving him authority for the construction of the controversial building.
PB Members Sun Shimura and Raul Bacaltos confirmed that the contracts of two of their job order workers had not been renewed.
Shimura told Superbalita Cebu that the contracts of two job order workers, who had been assigned to follow up on the resolutions of the barangays within his district, had not been renewed.
Shimura didn’t discount the possibility that the non-renewal was political.
“I feel sorry for them because they had been with me since during Gov. Gwen (Garcia)’s time. Their contracts were always renewed. Gov. Junjun (Davide) has assumed office for two terms. This is the first time that our job order workers have been affected by politics,” Shimura said in Cebuano.
Bacaltos said it was the prerogative of the governor and vice governor to approve their requests for job order workers.
“We can only request them to allow our staff members to work as job order workers,” Bacaltos said.
Shimura and Bacaltos were two of six PB members who voted to defer a measure that would have allowed Davide to enter into a contract for the construction of the P1.3 billion Resource Center.
Other PB members who opposed giving authority to Davide were Edsel Galeos, Victoria Corominas-Toribio, Yolanda Daan and Alex Binghay.
PB members who approved the measure were Miguel Antonio Magpale, Celestino Martinez III, Jerome Librando, Jose Mari Salvador, Horacio Franco, Jude Thaddeus Sybico, Earl Tidy Oyas and Jerico Rubio.
PB members Christopher Baricuatro, Glenn Bercede and Jovito Thadeo Ouano abstained.
Rubio said his job order workers had not been removed.
Having no idea that the contracts of some job order workers assigned to the PB members were not renewed, Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said she would talk to the concerned departments on the matter.
The PHRMO’s Nacorda explained that the contracts of the job order workers had ended, and they plan to use the funds for their hiring to open new important positions in the provincial and district hospitals since the thrust of the Davide administration is geared toward the improvement of health services.
Nacorda said each PB member is assigned 11 organic personnel.
But due to the various projects assigned to each PB member, job order workers were provided to the members for temporary assistance whose salaries were funded by the Provincial Administrator’s Office.
“Due to the increasing need for additional personal in the provincial and district hospitals, we decided to recall their job order workers. But their 11 organic workers are still intact,” Nacorda told Superbalita Cebu.
Nacorda said some job order workers, whose contracts were renewed every six months. worked for less than three years at the Capitol. He added that workers whose contracts were no longer renewed could reapply for other job vacancies at the Capitol.
Separately, Cebu Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia claimed Davide is using the job order workers to silence opposing PB members.
“And he says my objections against the “Torre ni David-e” are politically motivated? Who’s the one politicizing now?” Garcia said in a text message to SunStar Cebu. (JKV)