DUE to the non-passage of the town's supplemental budget, some 447 job order (JO) employees of Isabela Municipal Government have not yet received their salaries since October 15.
Town mayor Irene Montilla said the municipal council led by Vice Mayor Renato Malabor, Jr. received her request for Supplemental Budget No. 2 on July 13, 2021 amounting to P3,393,717.28.
But of the figure, she said, only P1,880,012.90 was approved.
Montilla said the budget for the salary of the contractual workers was included in the request for supplemental budget.
The mayor explained that since the supplemental budget was only partially approved, her office sent another request to the municipal council to approve Supplemental Budget No. 3.
The new request included the portion of the Supplemental Budget No. 2 which was not approved, Montilla said, adding that the source of funds was the savings from the Personal Services.
"Unfortunately, up to this day, they did not act on those requests without justifying why they are not approving it and this is the reason why we cannot pay our job order employees," she lamented.
Montilla said it came to her attention that there was a "press release" on why the budget was not approved. Though, she has not read it.
Also, there was a reported proposed ordinance seeking to increase the salary of job order employees to P100 a day.
"In the paper, that is perfect, but in reality, how can they do it when they have not even approved the requests for Supplemental Budget No. 2 and 3?" Montilla asked.
The mayor stressed that there should be more actions and less talk, as she urged the municipal council members "to do something about it (the budget)."
At the flag ceremony yesterday, November 15, Montilla told the contractual workers that the non-payment of their salary was beyond her control.
As a temporary measure, out of their initiative, Montilla and her son Councilor Juan Miguel distributed rice assistance to the affected employees.
She recalled that a similar incident happened in 2019 when she was not yet the town mayor.
When she assumed the position, Montilla said, her office did not also have a budget allocation for maintenance and other operating expenses nor the fund for JO employees.
It also took a while for the council to approve it, she said.
"We had to augment the budget from the different offices for us to survive," Montilla recalled.
If Montilla is to be believed, there seems to be a pattern of political obstructionism that is being played again.
Sadly, it affected the 447 JO employees and their families, she said, adding that despite the non-payment of their salary, these workers continue to perform their job, especially at the height of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) pandemic.
Montilla disclosed that they have referred this matter already to the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
"We have to wait (just like) last year, wherein they approved the budget in February when we are on the verge of operating under a re-enacted budget," she said.
Montilla said she will make appropriate measures on how to fix the issue because the Mandamus ruling which directs the devolution of more government functions to the local government unit will commence.
This is a national directive under Executive Order No. 38, she said.
Earlier, Isabela Councilor Francis Malabor said they need the list of all JOs and casual employees before they act on the P3.6 million supplemental budget being asked by the office of Montilla.
Malabor, who is the chairman of the council's committee on finance, told reporters that they were asking for that list since 2019, but they were never furnished.
He said the current year's budget of P17 million for Personal Services should have been enough for the year.
Malabor cited a provision in the Local Government Code saying that the Sangguniang Bayan must be furnished a copy of the list of JO and casual employees before acting on the request.