WITH a day left before Cebu City’s 87th Charter Day, employees at the City Hall still have not received the promised Charter Day bonus.
Cebu City Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, Thursday, Feb. 22, 2024, said the executive department has yet to submit to the council documents required for the supplemental budget ordinance, which incorporates the Charter Day bonus and other items.
“Sigurado jud ta nga mahuman na lang ang Charter Day nga celebration, which is tonight (Feb. 22) and our charter day is (Feb.) 24, dili pa jud na mahatag,” Garcia said in a phone interview.
(I am sure that even after the Charter Day celebration tonight (Feb. 22), and our actual Charter Day on (Feb. 24) have concluded, the bonus won’t still be distributed.)
However, he assured that the Charter Day bonus would be given to the employees despite delays in the supplemental budget ordinance.
Garcia expects to receive the supplemental budget ordinance on Feb. 28.
He said his proposed Charter Day bonus amount of P25,000 is being considered; however, this figure is still subject to the council’s approval.
Garcia explained that Supplemental Budget No. 1 will cover expenses other than the Charter Day bonus. He also attributed the delay to the ordinance drafting process.
He said the procedure involves first approving an annual investment plan (AIP), which requires endorsement from the Cebu City Development Council members.
He noted that the AIP was only approved this week, and he expects that the proposal for the supplemental budget will be forwarded to the council by next week.
He said the moment the supplemental budget will reach the council, they will have to act on it.
JOs’ incentive
When asked about the incentive Job Order (JO) personnel will receive, Garcia said he does not know yet, pending the documentation. He is also uncertain if it is included in the budget ordinance.
Asked if another ordinance is required for the JOs to receive Charter Day bonus, Garcia said he already authored one, which will serve as the basis for the JOs’ gratuity pay.
The City Government celebrates Charter Day every Feb. 24. Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama announced the Charter Day bonus on Feb. 5.
In a separate phone interview on Thursday, Cebu City Councilor Noel Eleuterio Wenceslao, chairman of the committee on budget and finance, also confirmed that the proposal was not received yet.
Wenceslao said he has not received any information yet regarding the amount allocated for the Charter Day bonus as specified in the supplemental budget.
He added that he is unaware of the total amount proposed for the supplemental budget, which includes the bonus and other items, such as the expenses for the Palarong Pambansa.
On Jan. 9, SunStar Cebu reported that Cebu City Hall has 10,000 employees, and not 7,000 as the City Government initially believed.
This was after Cebu City Administrator Collin Rosell, on Jan. 8, presented after the City’s flag-raising ceremony, the number of City Hall employees employed since 2007, under former mayor Tomas Osmeña.
Rosell said there was a significant oversight in determining the exact number of City Hall employees. He said the Human Resource and Development Office initially disclosed a count of at least 7,000 employees only to revise the number to 10,000.
In 2007, City Hall had 4,606 employees. When Rama served his firm term as mayor in 2010, the City Hall had 4,503 employees. When Rama served his second term in 2013, there were 4,305 employees. The number climbed to 5,407 when Osmeña returned as mayor in 2016.
When Labella took office in 2019, the number of employees was 7,210; this went up to 8,420 in his second year in office before ballooning to 10,183 before he died in 2021.