CEBU City Hall employees who were caught on video “playing mobile games or having makeup sessions” during office hours when Civil Service Commission (CSC) personnel led by Commissioner Aileen Lourdes Lizada made a surprise visit to City Hall on Tuesday, Sept. 3, 2019, will face either suspension or non-renewal of their contract.
City Attorney Rey Gealon said he is waiting for the City Legal Office (CLO) to identify the regular and casual employees who were found remiss in their job. They will be summoned to appear before the investigation body to explain. If found liable, the “guilty” employees will be penalized.
Mayor Edgardo Labella had instructed the CLO and the Human Resources Development Office to look into the matter.
Gealon said they have to determine if all those caught on video were employees of the City Government.
“Considering that we are yet in the transition stage, most, if not all, the people in and around the premises of the City Hall building, especially those along corridors, were either applying for government positions or awaiting employment or appointments for courtesy calls,” he said.
Labella sent a directive to the city administrator, requesting job seekers or those waiting for the results of their application not to loiter in the vicinity.
Once they are done with their business, they should immediately leave and not hang out in the corridors, he said.
On Thursday morning, Sept. 5, Labella called for an emergency meeting with all department heads to apprise them of the CSC’s observation.
The department heads, though, told the mayor that those caught were job seekers.
Labella instructed department heads to monitor all their employees and to see to it that they are in their respective posts.
The monitoring, according to Labella, is part of regularizing the City’s 2,400-strong work force.
“We will only put in the position those who are deserving based on their performance.... I’m admonishing them that they should not hang around during work schedule,” said Labella.
He also instructed the Cebu City Office for Substance Abuse Prevention (Cosap) to conduct random and surprise drug tests among employees and job applicants.
Ricardo Cabule, CSC 7 administrative officer, said last Tuesday’s inspection was to ensure that government employees were performing their jobs, “which the public has expected them to do.”
Government employees, Cabule told SunStar Cebu, are bound by Republic Act (RA) 6713, or the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees.
Section 11 of RA 6713 states that any public official or employee committing any violation of the Act “shall be punished with a fine not exceeding the equivalent of six months’ salary or suspension not exceeding one year, or removal depending on the gravity of the offense... imprisonment not exceeding five years, or a fine not exceeding P5,000, or both, and, at the discretion of the court of competent jurisdiction, disqualification to hold public office.”
Cabule said the inspection was initiated by the CSC central office. It’s an ongoing nationwide inspection to ensure that employees of local government units are doing their job well and implementing the ease of doing business.
‘It is only right to give society the kind of service they expect from us and (the inspection is also considered) a reality check,” said Cabule.
Lizada also went to the Lapu-Lapu City Hall last Tuesday, where she and her team took videos of several employees of the City Health Office and the City Accountant’s Office playing mobile games or spending time on Facebook.
Danilo Almendras, administrator of Lapu-Lapu City, said they have yet to receive the formal report from the CSC 7.
He assured, though, that those found “guilty” will be made to explain why they were not doing their job during office hours.
“There will be repercussions. Aside from possible suspension, the ‘guilty’ employees could lose their incentives for the year like their bonus,” he said in Cebuano.
Almendras immediately issued a memorandum to all departments, reminding employees that playing mobile games, watching online movies, doing Facebook, chatting on Messenger and other online chatting, as well as having makeup sessions or getting a massage during office hours are not allowed.
However, he admitted that monitoring the employees would be difficult.
“It all depends if they get caught. In this age and time, many people are online. Even small gadgets have the capacity to connect to the internet,” Almendras said in Cebuano. (JJL, GCM of SuperBalita Cebu, PJB)