CEBU, Philippines — The Commission on Audit (COA) has flagged the Toledo City government for hiring over 3,000 Job Order (JO) workers for various programs in the city which total payment reached P167 million in the calendar year 2023.
In its review of 2023 financial transactions, COA found that the said outcomes were “inconsistent” with the government regulations.
Of the total 4,508 JO workers employed by Toledo City as of December 31, 2023, there were 3,347 workers engaged for various programs, such as Research and Codification, Research and Monitoring, Research and Development, and the Clean, Green and Bloom projects.
The breakdown of payments in the audit report includes Research and Codification with P25,219,547.64; Research and Monitoring with P75,511,255.05; Research and Development with P11,121,325.00; and Clean, Green, and Bloom with P55,242,421.78.
With this, state auditors cited violations of Section 2 of Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 1445.
“Section 2 of P.D. No. 1445 provides that it is the declared policy of the State that all resources of the government shall be managed, expended or utilized in accordance with law and regulations, and safeguard against loss or wastage through illegal or improper disposition, with a view to ensuring efficiency, economy and effectiveness in the operations of government,” reads a portion in the report.
Further review from COA showed multiple deficiencies, including the lack of individual accomplishment reports for JO workers. Instead, a single accomplishment report often listed numerous JO workers, raising concerns about the validity of their work.
Apart from that, COA pointed out the lack of identification cards for JO workers. Many of the JO workers were hired without proper contracts, memorandum of agreement (MOA), or job orders. Instead, a single Job Order Appointment often covered multiple workers, failing to define the specific scope of work for each individual.
As noted by COA, “Pictures of clean, green and bloom projects showed similar places, poses and outfits of the cleaners but were attached as proof of accomplishment on different dates, as presented below, raising doubt whether these JO workers had rendered one-month service.”
In light of the deficiencies, COA recommended several actions like strengthening internal controls in JO hiring by the City Human Resource Management Officer and other officials in the local government unit (LGU).
The COA also advised that all JO hirings be documented through contracts or MOAs signed by the Local Chief Executive with the Sanggunian’s authorization. This is to ensure that it aligns to COA-DBM Joint Circular No. 2, s. 2020, and a Supreme Court decision (G.R. No. 175527).
“Require all JOs to enroll in the biometric system or other similar means to document their attendance and to ensure compliance with the required number of hours of work,” read a portion of the report.
Officials from Toledo City Local Government Unit (LGU) responded that they would go over the JO hiring policies.
“Management commented that they will review the policies on the hiring of Job Order workers,” said the report.
The Office of the Mayor issued a memorandum requiring all JO workers to wear identification cards while on duty to verify their identities.
Management also noted that JO workers were issued appointments and contracts after completing requirements such as a Personal Data Sheet, drug test results, and a Community Tax Certificate.
Other JO workers were utilizing the biometric system, while those on fieldwork used attendance logbooks.
The auditing body in specific urged the LGU to review the necessity of hiring large numbers of JO workers, questioning 50 to 100 workers for programs like Research and Monitoring, Research and Development, and Clean, Green and Bloom, where necessary accomplishments were lacking. –ATO (CEBU NEWS)