BY GEROME DALIPE IV
ILOILO City – The City Council has approved the request of Mayor Jerry Treñas for an additional 20 regular positions under the newly created Personnel Information and Payroll System Management Office (PIPSMO).
The council recently granted the amendments in Regulation Ordinance No. 2024-023, which established the PIPSMO, which is tasked to hasten the release of salaries of about 2,000 regular City Hall employees.
This comes amid the call to release about 21 months in back pay for the employees under Republic Act No. 11466, known as the Salary Standardization Law of 2019.
Apart from the 20 regular positions, the ordinance also granted six new regular positions under PIPSMO consisting of an assistant department head II with a Salary Grade (SG) of 24.
Under the ordinance, the PIPSMO is mandated to implement a centralized approach in the processing, computation, and management of leave data, payrolls, and personnel importation of all the employees of the City Hall.
The office will establish a secured and automated electronic system to ensure fast and efficient implementation of all the duties and responsibilities of all offices.
In an interview, Councilor Rex Marcus Sarabia, the council’s Committee on Good Government chairperson, said the new positions will ensure the efficient and prompt process of the employees’ payroll.
Apart from the payroll system, Councilor Urminico Baronda said the PIPSMO should also check the financial standing of the city government whether or not it can afford to release the back pay of the employees.
For his part, Councilor Sedfrey Cabaluna said the creation of the new department will also hasten the release of salaries of job hires and Contract of Service (COS) personnel at the City Hall.
Andrew Murray Durano, administrative assistant at the Office of the City Veterinarian, earlier asked Mayor Treñas to comply with the Salary Standardization Law and fully disburse the back pay owed to the employees.
“I believe the Iloilo City Government still owes 21 months of salary increase back pay to its permanent employees. Given your commitment to the welfare and well-being of our city’s government employees, I believe this matter might have been inadvertently overlooked,” said Duran.
Durano also wrote his position paper narrating the alleged failure of the City Hall to enforce the Salary Standardization Law fully.
“This will not only fulfill its legal obligations but also uphold the principles of fairness and equity in public service compensation,” said Durano in his position paper.
Treñas said Durano’s concern was forwarded to the City Legal Office for review.
In his position paper, Durano cited Section 11 of RA No. 11466 which provides that the salary schedule shall be implemented in four tranches, with the first tranche starting Jan. 1, 2020.
The second tranche is set for Jan. 1, 2021, while the third and fourth tranches have been scheduled starting Jan. 1, 2022, and Jan. 1, 2023, respectively.
For personnel of the local government units, the implementation period shall not be less than four years depending on their financial capabilities.
Durano, who is among the 31 “most outstanding city government employees” in 2023, said the LGUs are prohibited from delaying the initial implementation of the law beyond Jan. 1, 2020.
Durano pointed out the city government has not breached the personnel services (PS) ceiling from 2020 to 2023, as evidenced by its hiring of new employees and infrastructure projects, including a reported surplus of 400 million pesos in 2021.
He said the city government cannot use as an alibi the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic since such only affected the Philippines in the first quarter of 2020./PN
