ILOILO City – The Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) will investigate in aid of legislation the non-release of the salaries of the city government’s job hires.
“We want to get to the bottom of this. If we don’t have the money, does the SP have to appropriate? Is the city treasurer right it not signing the job hires’ payroll, or is the city mayor correct in insisting that the job hires must be paid,” said Councilor Plaridel Nava, chairperson of the SP appropriations committee.
SP members unanimously approved Nava’s proposed resolution calling for the inquiry.
City Treasurer Jinny Hermano had said certain city hall offices’ number of job hires already exceeded their monthly allocation and the city government lacked a “cash back-up”, thus his refusal to sign their payroll.
Aside from probing the nonpayment, Nava said, the SP would also scrutinize the city government’s fiscal condition.
The councilor said he was unsure how many job hires the city government currently has and how many of these were not paid since January this year.
There were around 3,000 job hires as of Dec. 31, 2018, he said.
The inquiry, set on April 1 at the SP session hall, will be jointly conducted by the committee on appropriations and the committee on good government.
According to Nava, among the resource persons would be officials from the Department of Budget and Management, Commission on Audit, City Legal Office, Bureau of Local Government Finance, Hermano, and City Administrator Hernando Galvez.
“I would also like to be clarified kon ano gid man i-apply naton, ang reenacted 2018 budget or atong gin propose ni Mayor Joe since ang veto ‘ya partial man lang,” added Nava.
Mayor Jose Espinosa III partially vetoed the SP-approved 2019 executive budget of P2,318,992,692 in December 2018.
The partial veto covered items under Maintenance and Operating Expenses (MOOE) of the City Mayor’s Office except for Security Services and Project Dakip, and the salaries of casuals under several offices.
“With this partial veto, 2018’s appropriation for the same item would thus be reenacted,” Galvez told Panay News last year.
Last week, Espinosa threatened to sue Hermano. On Monday, however, he said he could not do it “because of the political season.”
“Amo na nga we consult lawyers and the (Commission on Elections) kag national government offices…masulod na ang mga local prohibitions. We are doing everything nga kinahanglanon naton nga himuon pero nahigot lang gawa ang kamot,” said Espinosa, citing the Omnibus Election Code.
Last week Acting Regional Director Gilbert Gumabay of the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) said Hermano acted in accordance with “proper disbursement of public funds” when he turned down Espinosa’s order to sign payrolls covering the salaries/wages of contractual employees.
Espinosa had been pressuring Hermano to pay job hires in excess of pre-determined allocation, citing the opinion of lawyer Roledo Dela Cuz, chief of the City Legal Office.
“If they file a case, I will face them in court,” Hermano stressed. “Better that way so we would know who’s right or who’s wrong.”
Espinosa imputed political motives behind Hermano’s continued defiance.
Hermano insisted, however, “One hundred percent there is no politics involved.”
“I am just doing my job. The city has P74-million shortfall in the re-enacted budget; hence the need for prudent spending. Assuming there is money, it’s not intended for excess job hires,” Herman stressed./PN
