Budget stuck despite rally
Margot suggests other fund sources for incentives
In an interview while the rally outside City Hall was going on, Councilor Sisinio Andales said he will check whether those who joined the protest can be held liable for abandoning their posts during office hours A Civil Service resolution in 2002 prohibited mass actions by public workers during office hours, but they may do so during breaks or before or after work hours
OVER a thousand Cebu City Hall employees and barangay workers held a rally in front of the legislative building yesterday in protest of the City Council’s decision to defer approval of a P2.8-billion
supplemental budget.
Still loaded with trash, garbage trucks from the barangays also parked around the legislative building. Their drivers joined the protest.
The employees, wearing white shirts and black armbands, arrived at the Plaza Sugbo grounds around 8 a.m., an hour before the City Council’s regular session.
Around 10 a.m., Mayor Michael Rama joined the protesters, who watched the council session proceedings on the wide screens set up outside the legislative building.
City Hall’s 5,000 employees are affected by the delay in the approval of the extra budget, since it includes the P77.3 million for their productivity enhancement incentive (PEI). The City’s first supplemental budget for the year also includes P87 million in additional funds for garbage collection and disposal.
Through the signs they carried, they urged the legislative body to set aside political affiliations and pass the proposed first supplemental budget (SB 1).
“BOPK (Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan), ayaw kawangi ang katawhan sa serbisyo pina-agi sa pagpugong sa SB 1. Kung dili ninyo i- release ang SB 1, silotan kamo sa kahitas-an ug sa katawhan (If you do not release the supplemental budget, God and the people will punish you),” read one of the posters carried by the employees.
Another poster read: “Pass SB 1 now! Serbisyo alang sa katawhan, dili sa politikanhong katuyoan (Public service, not political motives).”
Last week, the majority bloc in the council composed of BOPK members decided to defer approval of SB 1.
They said they just want to be prudent because lawyer Romulo Torres of Barangay Basak San Nicolas already filed in court a petition seeking to stop the City from spending the P8.35-billion down payment it received for the sale of a 45.2-hectare area of the South Road Properties.
Torres filed a civil pe- tition for declaratory relief and asked for a temporary restraining order against the council members, saying the sale through public bidding was questionable.
Foiled
During the session yesterday, some councilors attempted to have SB 1 tackled again but the move was rejected. (See related story.)
Aside from the workers’ incentive, SB 1 also includes P2.4 billion to pay the balance of the loan the City took in 1995 to develop the South Reclamation Project, now called the South Road Properties.
Last Tuesday night, text messages circulated informing the employees and the barangay workers about the protest the next day. They were told to wear white shirts and black armbands.
Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) vice president and Tinago Barangay Captain Joel Garganera said their association helped organize the activity.
He said the barangays have been complaining about the problems with garbage collection and disposal since the City has run out of funds for the tipping fee at the private sanitary landfill in Consolacion town.
ABC president and Tisa Barangay Captain Philip Zafra said that the barangay captains are wary of the council majority’s move to suspend approval of SB 1.
“It is because this involves issues of paramount concern to the City,” he said.
Taxpayer’s case
In an interview while the rally outside City Hall was going on, Councilor Sisinio Andales said those who attended the protest against them may have violated some Civil Service Commission rules and provisions of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act for abandoning their posts.
He noted that the employees joined the activity during office hours. The activity ended at noon, but a small group remained at the plaza in the afternoon.
“They left their posts so it is disadvantageous to the public and to the government,” he said.
Andales said the em- ployees and workers can be charged administratively.
“I will look into this. If there will be a case, we will not file it ourselves. We will let somebody, maybe as a taxpayer, do it,” he said.
When sought for comment, Mayor Michael Rama said the right of the employees to air their grievances should be respected.
“We are talking about the general welfare. If they (employees) believe they are part of being affected, as part of the general welfare, there is a Constitutional provision for as long as it is peacefully assembled,” he said.
Limits
The Civil Service Commission (CSC) refused to take a stand yesterday on the rally participants’ liability, if any. Issuing a position would preempt any decision of the CSC if a complaint is filed as a result of the protest, an official said.
But Prolaine Daclan, head of the CSC public assistance and liaison division, cited CSC Resolution 021316 or the Omnibus Rules on Prohibited Concerted Mass Action in the Public Sector.
The resolution was issued in 2002.
“We (in the government) are never allowed to go on concerted mass action such as strike and mass protest that would disrupt public service. Although the (1987) Constitution protects the right (of government workers) to organize, mass action is prohibited,” Daclan said.
Daclan said that government workers are allowed to wear black arm bands or color-coded shirts to signify their protest while at work.
But they are not allowed to use government time to further their interest or cause. Public personnel may hold protests before office or after office hours and during lunch breaks.
She said that the agency received information about the City Hall employees’ mass action.
“The CSC is not allowed to give any comment or stand in order not to preempt any future decision of the commission,” Daclan said.