CEBU City Mayor-elect Edgardo Labella promised to make himself available to members of the media once he assumes office on June 30.
Labella said that making himself available for media interviews is part of his responsibility to the public.
“Even if I’m not yet a mayor, I always respond to the calls of the reporters,” he said in a Facebook live interview with SunStar Cebu.
Labella said he will conduct regular news conferences as part of transparency in his administration.
Meanwhile, the outgoing vice mayor said he will streamline work in City Hall to effectively provide service to the public.
With 5,000 employees, Labella said he will maximize all of them and put them in proper places.
“I can’t accept if they have to say that there is not enough manpower to conduct inspections like in the OBO (Office of the Building Official). We have 5,000 employees. What we need to do is to put people in proper places,” he said.
Labella said he wants most City Hall employees to be made regular. He wants to avoid hiring job-order (JO) employees.
“As much as possible, we should hire them as casuals because there is no security of tenure for JOs. I also want casuals to have a regular status in their employment because it’s a sad reality that whenever there is a new administration, some has to go. In fact, after the administration of former mayor Michael Rama, there were casual employees who had been serving 10, 15 and 18 years that were let go,” he said.
Labella said casual employees will undergo evaluation. If their performance in the last six months was good, they will be recommended for a regular status, he said. (RVC)