‘Betrayed’ Gwen to review work of Capitol staff

CEBU Governor-elect and incumbent Third District Rep. Gwendolyn “Gwen” Garcia has not forgotten those who betrayed her.

Garcia is poised to conduct a performance review of all Capitol employees once she assumes office on June 30.

In an interview at the sidelines of her proclamation as governor-elect Thursday, May 16, Garcia said she has not forgotten the “betrayal” of those who turned their backs on her during her suspension from office for six months over the Balili property in December 2012 and when her term as governor ended in 2013.

“Ever since my term ended as governor of Cebu in June 2013, during those six years, I have seen those that have betrayed me and those that have stayed loyal to me at their expense. This time around, I will take that into consideration. The faithfulness, integrity and loyalty that those who stayed with me have shown when times were bad… Everybody loves a victor, daghan na sad kaayo ang moingon nga ‘daog gyud ta.’ Pero karon nalang? Lahi na siguro ko karon,” she added. (A lot [of people] will now claim we won. But only now? I think I am different now.)

In an earlier interview, the governor-elect, who is also the first woman governor in the province, said she wanted a performance review because she wanted “to go back to instilling pride in ourselves as Cebuanos and as government employees.”

“They will have to be examples of professionalism. That was what we had before. If they have had six years of sloth and laziness, well, their six years are over,” she warned.

The plan is taking shape as Garcia said on Thursday that a special body will be formed to review the performance of more than 4,000 Capitol employees and department heads.

Transition team

“Certainly, we will have a transition team. We have to sit down with our key people… I need the transition team to create the proper body that will be reviewing the performance of these employees and department heads these past six years,” she told reporters.

The governor-elect, though, stressed that they will apply due process to all Capitol department heads and employees that will undergo scrutiny.

“(Of course), dili sila mahadlok. (They should not be scared.) They will go through due process. That’s how we operate, di mi magdali-dali. (We are not in a hurry.) But if in the end they will be found guilty of whatever accusations or charges there may be, then they’ll have to ship out,” she continued.

Records from the Provincial Human Resource Management Office (HRMO) revealed that around 4,021 persons are currently employed by the Capitol.

Of the number, 1,118 are permanent or regular employees, while 1,905 are job order ( JO) workers.

HRMO officer-in-charge Lilia Villasin said most JO workers are utility workers and nurses, among others, whose services are renewable every six months.

There are also 636 casual employees and 362 contract of service workers composed of doctors and medical specialists.

Like JO workers, the services of casual employees are also renewable every six months.

But while some casual workers may have served the Provincial Government for several years, Villasin said some of them are not regularized due to lack of certification of eligibility from the Civil Service Commission.

Villasin said they conduct an annual performance evaluation every April and November.