The assurance by councilor Gerry Carillo that the City Council will finally approve tomorrow the contracts for more than 300 so-called "job order" employees or JOs comes as a whiff of fresh air for these workers who reportedly have not been paid their salaries since they got hired.
Carillo blamed the problem on the practice of immediately hiring JOs even before their contracts have been approved, an official act that first requires a project proposal by the department that needs them or from the officials who recommended their employment.
But with Carillo's assurance, that ought to be water under the bridge soon. What is not clear is whether JOs in other local governments can look to a similar happy ending. And that is because, in the pecking order of government employment, JOs are scraping the bottom of the larder and merit the least concern.
JOs are common in all local governments. In many cases, they are political hires and are therefore more of an accommodation than a real need. But there are JOs that are truly needed and who, once hired, perform real functions and so must be treated like real employees, if not real human beings.
Take the case of the JOs Carillo is talking about. If it is true that they have not been paid simply because their contracts have not been signed, then that is a grave and serious injustice to those who rendered real work. Just because their contracts have not been signed is no excuse to let them work without pay.
Another thing – it is no secret that JOs are not being paid rightful wages. There are some LGUs, including some of the very rich ones, that do not pay their JOs even the legal minimum wage. That is a terrible shame considering that all government should take the lead in complying with the letter of every law.
It is pretty certain neither Carillo nor any other government official would want to exchange places with a JO. And why is that? Because neither Carillo nor any other government official in any local government unit in this country would want to suffer the same indignity being suffered by JOs.
Just because an employee's status is just a JO does not mean he or she is any less human than the other employees who are regular or permanent. As human beings, they have the same needs as others, needs that simply cannot be met because their dignity is defined not by their humanity but by the status of their employment.
There are many JOs who are professionals, passers of government licensure exams, who do professional tasks only they can do, but who, because they are mere JOs, are not only paid less than the legal minimum but are also not paid on time. Yet what little they contribute helps in the success and well-being on an LGU.