JVR warns employees: Don’t test my patience

CEBU, Philippines - Talisay City Mayor Johnny de los Reyes warned City Hall workers and public officials to respect his executive orders or face sanctions.

"Ako ra na sila'ng gipasagdaan usa pero dili lang unta sila mogara kay hapit nako manginit…Dili lang unta nila huwaton nga mu-explode ko  (I'm tolerating them for now but they should not test my patience further... They should not wait for me to lose my temper)," De los Reyes said.

The mayor issued the statement after some offices in City Hall ignored his memoranda and orders allegedly upon orders of other local officials.

Last week, for example, he sent an invitation to Councilor Aldin Diaz regarding a meeting of the Tourism Council, but the latter rejected the invitation and instead called his own, even sending an invitation to the mayor. 

Another instance was the refusal of the legislative department to let its staff undergo a random drug test, reportedly because the staff is not under the executive department, which initiated the test.

Recently, the city's Job Order Monitoring Team (JOMT) reported that its members were denied entry to the Vice Mayor's Office. De los Reyes had created the team purposely to monitor all job order workers to ensure they are working during duty hours.

Hazel Bathan, head of the city's Human Resource Management Office (HRMO), said that in more than one occasion, JOMT personnel had informed her that they were not allowed to enter the vice mayor's office and were reportedly told that the mayor has no power to monitor workers of the legislative department.

"Naka-receive mi'g feedback nga naay mga offices nga dili sila magpa-monitor particularly sa legislative, including the office of the VM (We received feedback that there are offices that did not want to be monitored, particularly in the legislative department, including the office of the vice mayor)," Bathan said.

Bathan said that under De los Reyes' order last January 14, all offices including those in the legislative and the executive departments, are subject to close monitoring.

She reminded the legislative department that since it was the mayor who hired the job order workers, it is also his responsibility to monitor their performance.

"It is provided sa Local Government Code, ang mayor ra'y maka-hire sa mga JOs, dapat lang sad mo- monitor siya kay gisweldoan gud na sila. Mao na i-check gyud kung naa ba gyud sila sa ilang mga assigned places (Under the Local Government Code, only the mayor can hire JOs. Because he is the one paying them, he must monitor and make sure they are working)," she explained.

Bathan said workers with plantilla positions may say they can't be subject to monitoring but this should not be so because as mayor, it is De los Reyes’ job to make sure the whole system is running smoothly.

Bathan said she will recommend to de los Reyes to issue a memorandum making his warning official so he can take the necessary step should his orders are met with disapproval.   (FREEMAN)