Regularization for the deserving CH set to fill up 1,000 positions

CEBU, Philippines - Over 1,000 vacant positions in the Cebu City Government will be filled out this year.

Lawyer Mary Ann Suson, Human Resource and Development Officer of City Hall, said that the Personnel Selection Board is set to meet next week to finally determine how they will go about the process of filling up the plantilla positions or regular positions that have been empty for years.

Loyal and deserving casual employees will be given priority by the PSB. These are those employees with good standing and who have been with the City Hall for many years.

Suson, however, clarified that they will not fill out the regular positions for the sake of regularizing casual employees.

There is a possibility that some positions will be left vacant if they do not see the need for these positions to be filled out.

Suson said that they might also accommodate new applicants if no casual employees would qualify for some positions.

The over 1,000 vacancies are spread around the different offices. There are 22 departments at City Hall.

Of the 5,000 employees of City Hall, only 2,000 hold plantilla positions while the rest are casuals.

All contracts of casual employees expired last December 31, but all these have been renewed except for one.

Suson said that the only casual employee, whose contract was not renewed, did not pass the assessment.

The administration of Mayor Michael Rama has a policy that all casual employees and regular employees will be under watch at all times to ensure that they are doing their job.

All employees will undergo periodic evaluation and those who will not pass the standards will be terminated or will not get a renewal.

The HRDO said that any termination of employees will undergo due process.

The HRDO is now empowering the grievance committee of each department to take care of all violations of regular employees before it will be endorsed to the HRD. This way, minor violations could be resolved at the department level.

Suson said that almost all contracts have been signed so casual employees will receive their salary which will already include the second tranche of salary adjustment by the end of the month. –/NLQ (FREEMAN)