THE contracts of people hired under the administration of the late mayor Edgardo Labella were reportedly not renewed this year, and they were told not to report to work on Monday, Jan. 3, 2022.
Former Cebu City administrator Floro Casas Jr. said most of these contractual workers are Labella supporters.
Referring to Mayor Michael Rama without mentioning his name, he said he’s sure that these people will not vote for Rama in the May 9 national and local elections.
“Nalimot siguro ang current administration nga kandidato sila sa May 2022 elections... Ang wala nila girenew may mga pamilya, amigo, amiga ug grupo nga dili na sab mobotar nila sa May 2022 elections. Ug ... dili ra sila maoy kandidato. Daug na man daw sila, so ipakita nato atong kusog karong May 2022! Dili iboto ang mayor nga traydor,” Casas said.
(The current administration has probably forgotten that they are candidates in the May 2022 elections... These people whose contracts they have not renewed have families, friends and groups who will no longer vote for them in the May 2022 elections. And ... they are not the only candidates. They said they are already sure winners. So let’s show our strength in May 2022! Don’t vote for the mayor who is a traitor.)
Rama is running for mayor against City Councilor David Tumulak and former city councilor Margarita Osmeña.
Casas said many contractual employees hired during Labella’s time were told to no longer report to work.
“Daghan sa mga supporters ug tawo ni Mayor Edgar Labella ang gi-terminate ug wala gi-renew pag January 2022. Luoy ug mingaw intawn kaayo ang bag-ong tuig nila,” said Casas.
(Many of Mayor Edgar Labella’s supporters and personnel were terminated and their contracts were not renewed in January 2022. Their new year is very sad and lonely.)
Casas, a lawyer, was the city administrator under Labella, who died on Nov. 19, 2021.
During Labella’s Nov. 26 necrological service, Casas complained of “oppression,” citing Rama’s subjecting of City Hall employees to a month’s evaluation to determine if their contracts would be renewed. Before taking over Labella’s post, Rama had said he would not “rock the boat” on the question of what would happen to City Hall employees.
Rama’s action
Sought for his reaction on the issue, Rama said he has given the 28 Cebu City Hall department heads the license to renew the services of workers whose contracts expired on Dec. 31, 2021.
Rama let the department heads decide to extend the contractual workers’ contracts from January to June 30, 2022.
The mayor has also not announced the number of workers hired under Labella’s administration whose employment will not be renewed because the Human Resource Development Office does not yet have the complete list.
Cebu City Hall has 10,000 employees—over 3,000 are casual employees, nearly 2,000 are holding regular positions, and the rest are workers with job order statuses.
Acting City Administrator Suzzane Ardosa said it is in the hands of a department head to decide whether to renew the contract of employees or not because they are the ones who are aware of the workers’ performance.