CLOSE to 3,000 temporary workers of the Cebu Provincial Government will have to wait for the renewal of their contracts before they can return to their posts under the administration of incoming governor Gwendolyn Garcia.
Garcia assumes the post at noon of Sunday, June 30, 2019. The casual, contractual and job order employees would know starting Friday, June 28, if they will be part of the new administration.
More than half of those who will wait for their contracts to be continued or renewed are some 1,600 employees in the provincial and district hospitals. The biggest group, of 281 workers, are assigned to the Cebu Provincial Hospital in Carcar City. This hospital offers total knee replacement, cataract removal and dialysis treatment. The affected employees include utility workers, nurses, pharmacists and doctors.
Capitol officials said service will not be interrupted because there are permanent employees in hospitals and the temporary workers who will remain will know their fate soon enough or by Friday during the turnover of office.
“Governor Gwen is not officially governor yet. That is why we cannot issue any memorandum circular or any official document. So, to also help those covered by job orders, we will inform the department heads who then will disseminate the information which will be formalized by Governor Gwen once she assumes office,” lawyer Frank Eduard Dinsay V, a member of Garcia’s transition team, said.
The close to 3,000 workers told not to report for work on July 1 unless issued new appointments are the casual employees and those with contracts of service or job orders.
Dinsay said Garcia’s transition team will give during the turnover on Friday their list of employees to department heads and also to the transition team of outgoing governor but now vice governor-elect Hilario Davide III.
As this developed, Provincial Administrator Mark Tolentino and former HRMO head Bonifer Nacorda issued a statement reminding the incoming administration to follow established hiring procedures and that “the old days of the padrino system are long gone at the Capitol.”
Garcia earlier tasked her transition team to review the performance of all department heads and employees. In her speech after she was proclaimed the election winner last May 16, Garcia said she still recalls those who were “traitors” and those who were loyal to her in her past stint as governor.
Records at the Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) showed that, as of May 2019, the Provincial Government had over 4,000 employees, broken down as follows: 2,296 covered by job orders and contracts of service; 1,090 permanent workers; 626 casual employees and 18 who are coterminous or whose employment ends with a change of leadership.
From these numbers, those who have to await the decision if they will continue under the Garcia administration are the 2,922 casual, job order and contractual workers. More than half of them are employed in provincial and district hospitals.
HRMO officer-in-charge Lilia Villasin said many of the job order employees are nurses and utility workers. Their job orders, together with those of the casual employees, get renewed every six months. Most of those under contracts of service are doctors and pharmacists of provincial and district hospitals whose appointments get renewed every year.
In a statement, Tolentino and Nacorda said the “Cebu Province under our watch is recognized as a ‘Prime HRM’ by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), meaning, we promote meritocracy and excellence in human resource management, including in the hiring and handling of our personnel, job orders and contractuals.”
“Our job orders and contractuals are engaged after going through the hiring process using psychometrics, job fit and culture fit interviews, not upon the recommendation of a politician. The vacancies that they filled up were determined by what is needed by the operations of their respective offices or units. This hiring process has been established and accredited by the CSC,” the statement added.
It said the Garcia administration “must adhere to these high standards set by Cebu Province, and in line with the National Government’s objective.”
It added: “The hiring process in the executive office has been established already. This must be continued by the incoming administration of Garcia. In order to improve our workforce, they are duty-bound to ensure that the hiring process will be merit-based as per required by law and not based on the padrino system.”
Meanwhile, Davide will not attend the inaugural ball of Garcia scheduled for this Sunday afternoon, June 30, after her assumption of office. Davide reportedly will be with his family after his own oathtaking that day at the Casino Español.
Invited by Garcia to her inaugural ball are senators, House of Representatives members, Provincial Board members, mayors, vice mayors, regional directors, judges, consuls and supporters.