BARILI, Cebu Vice Mayor Julito “Julie” Flores has been appointed acting mayor of the southwestern town while Mayor Marlon Garcia still has to recover from Covid-19.
Flores formally assumed the post on Thursday, Aug. 27, 2020.
Flores told SunStar Cebu his first priority upon his assumption is to sign the long-overdue payroll documents needed to release the salaries of town hall employees.
Flores expects the employees’ salaries to be released before the end of August.
Since Garcia was admitted to the hospital earlier this month, around 139 permanent employees and 320 casuals and job order personnel working at Barili’s town hall have yet to receive their salaries.
Aside from the salaries of the town’s employees, Flores also wants to check if Barili’s programs to contain the spread of Covid-19 are still in effect.
On Aug. 6, 2020 during the Province’s 451st founding anniversary, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia herself disclosed that her brother, Marlon, had been stricken with the novel coronavirus.
Flores earlier said he would not assume the position of acting mayor without a formal directive issued to him.
He changed his mind after the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) informed him that he could legally assume the post even without an appointment.
“I assure the mayor’s supporters that I will continue his programs and projects. And of course, I plan to implement my own projects to help the town and our constituents,” Flores said in Cebuano.
Flores added that he will continue to implement strict health protocols in the town, including regularly disinfecting the town hall, public market and other areas where people congregate.
Following Flores’ assumption as acting mayor, first councilor Luisito Ponsica took over the post of vice mayor. / JKV