THE Cebu City Human Resource and Development Office (HRDO) has aired support for a proposed ordinance that seeks to prohibit City Hall employees from engaging in money lending and check discounting activities that involve high, usurious interest rates.
The HRDO endorsement is in response to Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera’s draft ordinance that was referred to the HRDO in a previous council session.
A public hearing on the proposed measure is scheduled on Wednesday, May 28, 2025, before it proceeds to its third reading and final approval.
The draft ordinance aims to amend Sections 3, 6 and 14 of City Ordinance 2142, also known as the Ordinance Enacting the Code of Ethics of Cebu City Employees.
In the amending ordinance, Pesquera defined “usurious” as the practice of charging illegal or exorbitant rates of interest for the use of money.
HRDO head Henry Tomalabcad, in a letter submitted to the City Council during its regular session on Wednesday, May 21, said the proposed ordinance would prevent City Hall employees from engaging in acts considered “predatory” in nature.
“The said amendment may protect Cebu City Government employees from usurious transactions reducing the take-home pay of employees,” a portion of the letter read.
However, the HRDO included a suggestion for the council to clearly define what the word “usurious” specifically means within the context of the ordinance to avoid any ambiguities during its implementation.
Last February, Pesquera said she had heard “some talks” about the issue when asked about the prevalence of usurious lending practices among employees.
Under the proposed penalties for any violation of the ordinance, an employee would face a 10-day suspension for the first offense, 15-day suspension for the second offense and outright dismissal from service for the third offense. / JPS