Cebu City government probes into DTR fraud

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City government is now looking into alleged fraudulent activities of some employees who were caught falsifying their Daily Time Records (DTRs), prompting an investigation by the Human Resource Development Office (HRDO).

Following this, Cebu City Hall’s in-house security unit has tightened its measures to prevent similar incidents.

In an interview with the media, Arnel Yboran, head of the Civil Security Unit (CSU) of Cebu City Hall, said they tightened security measures after catching at least four employees stamping two DTRs each.

Upon discovering the fraudulent act, Yboran said they immediately prepared an incident report and forwarded it to the HRDO and the Office of the Mayor for official action.

“Kay kung ato gud ni silang pasagdan ingon ani, musiaw ni sila,” said Yboran.

He also acknowledged the CSU’s lack of mobility, which limits their ability to monitor more areas of Cebu City Hall, including other offices located in different parts of the city. He cited Cebu City Health and Fort San Pedro as examples of offices currently without CSU security personnel.

With this in mind, Yboran believes DTR fraud is likely being widely practiced in other areas, taking advantage of the absence of security personnel monitoring the biometrics system.

“They have been doing it for such a long time. Nya among gusto, ma-stop na ni kay kami, nanarbaho gud mi, sugnod na kaayo among mga tawo sa trabaho nya silay hayahay kaayo,” he said.

Yboran did not rule out the possibility that some employees had been absent from work but falsified their DTRs with the help of colleagues.

He appealed to the HRDO and the Office of the Mayor to take action based on their reports, noting that the CSU can only apprehend, reprimand, and report violators.

Despite their limited manpower, Yboran said they are now intensifying their monitoring efforts. The CSU currently has only 21 personnel.

“Nya daghan kaayo mig bantayan. Gibungkag pa namog tulo ka shift ang mga tawo…(sa usa ka shift) naay tulo or upat (ka personnel),” he said.

Yboran admitted that this is one of their pressing concerns, adding that they may need to hire additional personnel soon, but only after the elections.

Meanwhile, HRDO Chief Henry Tomalacbacad said they have already called the attention of at least eight employees involved in the DTR fraud—four who were caught in the act and four others whose DTRs were being falsified.

The HRDO has also called the attention of 24 offices under Cebu City Hall after discovering that at least 50 employees had not received their salaries for the past four months.

The department heads were given 72 hours to explain the situation after being issued a notice to explain last Monday.

Tomalacbacad admitted that the cases of unpaid salaries have been a learning experience for Cebu City Hall officials. This is one of the reasons they have now strengthened their monitoring of payroll operations across departments.

He said the HRDO issued a notice to explain to 24 executive branch departments after finding that their employees had not received their salaries since October. The affected employees include regular, casual, and job order staff.

According to him, on January 6, 2025, they issued a memorandum asking all departments to provide a status report on salaries and claims for 2024. This came after the HRDO received complaints via calls and messages that some employees had not been paid.

He added that some employees were told by their department heads that their names had simply been forgotten in the payroll documentation.

Tomalacbacad said they took action on these cases in anticipation of Cebu City Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia requesting payroll documentation reports. —/ATO (FREEMAN)