AFTER years of complaints over delayed salaries, Job Order (JO) and Contract of Service (COS) workers at the Mandaue City Hall are finally seeing faster payouts, receiving their pay in less than a week instead of waiting two to four months.
Mayor Thadeo “Jonkie” Ouano said in an interview on Tuesday, Aug. 12, 2025, that salaries for the July 1–31 period were released within just five working days.
This marks a significant turnaround from the previous delays, which had seen JOs and COS waiting several weeks, sometimes months, for their salaries to be released.
Ouano said, “it was indeed possible,” as he praised all departments for their full cooperation.
He said the improved services and increased efficiency across various offices had made the faster release achievable, calling the accomplishment an important morale boost for City Hall employees.
As of this week, the City has already cleared the salaries of 25 departments, including 10 that received their pay last Friday, Aug. 8, with 15 more on Monday, Aug. 11.
The remaining backlog, mostly from the previous administration, is now on its final processing stages.
Ouano credited the improvement to the close coordination between the accounting and legal offices. Upon taking office, he instructed these departments to find practical ways to shorten the process.
Changes
One of the first changes implemented was scrapping the old practice of allowing one employee to collect salaries on behalf of others. Now, each worker is required to personally claim their pay, ensuring transparency and accountability.
The City has also cracked down on loan sharks operating within City Hall, who used to take a cut from employees’ salaries in repayment of their debts.
Ouano said this exploitative practice had to stop, noting that it left many workers with little to take home despite months of work.
To further modernize the payroll system, the administration is requiring all City Hall employees to open ATM accounts by September.
This will allow salaries to be deposited directly, removing manual cash distribution and minimizing the risk of delays.
City Administrator Sally Malig-on revealed that when the new administration assumed office on July 1, he still had to sign salary releases dating back to February, March, April and May. These have since been released.
“Now, there are only a few left unsigned from as far back as June. That’s not our fault; it was part of the old process. Some were also returned with questions about certain issues,” said Malig-on.
“But if we’re talking about those filed from the time we took office from July 1 to 30, it only takes a week for them to be released. The few remaining ones are from the previous administration,” he added.
Malig-on said a key factor in speeding up the payroll process was the creation of a “payroll group.”
This system gathers all payroll makers and representatives from each department, along with accounting staff, in a single room to finalize payrolls together.
He said they realized that the processing of salaries could actually start just one week after the previous period, allowing payments to begin right away.
He added that the shift in payroll processing is part of the administration’s broader push to improve efficiency in City Hall operations.
Malig-on said the experience proves that long-standing bottlenecks can be solved with better coordination and the right priorities. / CAV