Two Cebu City Hall job order (JOs) employees who were allegedly involved in the fuel anomaly were suspended from work indefinitely without pay pending the ongoing investigation.
The JOs who were assigned at the Cebu City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CCDRRMO) were tagged by their co-workers for allegedly pumping fuel from government vehicles, and for unauthorized claiming of their salaries.
The nine complainants, current and previous workers of CCDRRMO, had sought the City Government to investigate the incident through an affidavit submitted to Councilor Pastor Alcover Jr.
Acting Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, in a press conference on Monday, June 24, 2024, said he will call for a clarificatory hearing and require the complainants to submit their affidavits again if necessary.
The Human Resource Office and the Cebu City Legal Department are spearheading the investigation.
Garcia said that he had already received the initial reports from the complainants and that the final report would take longer than usual because it needed to undergo legal processes.
The acting mayor said that as long as the two suspended employees followed the law and did not go beyond their limits, their employment with the City Government would be safe.
“For as long as nisubay sila sa balaod, wala sila mulapas, wala sila mosukwahi then they’re employment with the City Government of Cebu, even ang mga reklamante; they’re safe (For as long as they followed the law, they did not violate it, they did not contradict it, then they’re employment with the City Government of Cebu, even the complainants, they’re safe),” said Garcia.
Garcia assured the complainants that they are safe since they are the whistleblowers and know what is happening in their department.
CCDRRMO head Harold Alcontin, for his part, said Monday that the suspension of the two employees will be without pay since they are under a job order contract.
He said that they needed to finalize the report, which will be submitted to Garcia and City Councilor Joel Garganera, chairman of the committee on disaster risk reduction management, safety and climate change adaptation.
Following the discovery of the anomaly at CCDRRMO, Garcia immediately ordered the suspension of fuel allocation for all government vehicles, except for emergency vehicles.
Garcia also instructed the offices that need fuel allocations to write a letter explaining why they should be given such an allocation.
He added that he’s been receiving requests for fuel allocations mainly from the different departments of City Hall.
“Rest assured once maabot na sa akong opisina I always act on it kay public service cannot be delayed. Gamiton baya nila sa ilang daily operations. So, yes, naa na tay nadawat ug ang kasagaran coming from city hall, ang barangay wa pa kaayo (Rest assured once it reaches my office I always act on it because public service cannot be delayed. Will they use it in their daily operations? So, yes, we have already received and mostly coming from city hall, but not so much from the barangay),” said Garcia. / JPS