Estancia ‘job hires’ decry delay of salary release
As mayor appeals to SP, ‘Set aside politics please’
Estancia, Iloilo – Street sweepers and tax collection workers here banded for a “people power” of some sort and staged a protest rally before the town’s municipal council. Bearing placards and led by no less than Estancia’s acting Human Resource Management and Development Officer (HRMDO) Rex Luena, emotions flared with some 90 “job hires” present.
The main battle-cry was the delayed approval vis a vis release of the group’s wages believed to have been triggered by the brewing political-divide here.
Mayor Restituto Mosqueda in a public statement has appealed to members of the legislative department to heed the job hires’ plea and set aside politics.
“It is not right for the anybody to cause the sufferings of these job hires who have done nothing wrong. It is un-Christian, it is illegal, it is immoral and it is unjust. Politics should not and never be like this especially in Estancia where people are God-fearing and know what is right from wrong. So I appeal to the kind hearts of our fellow public servants in the municipal council. We are here to serve the public and not to propagate what is contrary to morals and the law,” Mayor Mosqueda said.
At stake in the job hires’ delayed wages was some P900,000 in appropriation covered by Supplemental Budget No. 1. The matter was officially referred to Councilor Rey Bataga, chair of the Committee on Finance.
In an audience with reporters present, Bataga and colleagues in the municipal council explained the delay while assuring of immediate action thereafter.
“We all agreed in principle that we are going to grant it,” Bataga said. “It is good as approved really and we did not plan to delay it. There were just some minor changes on the over-all Supplemental Budget (No.1) as requested by Mayor Mosqueda but all these including the wages of the job hires are approved in principle.”
Regular session of the council was set Wednesday afternoon yet had to start later due to the presence of the protesters.
Among the changes Supplemental Budget No. 1 faced was on the Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses (MOOE) of the Office of the Mayor. From the original P100,000 sought on Representation Expense and “Confidential Expense,” a P20,000 slash was made on both planned items of expenditures. The slashed amount was added to the MOOE of the legislative department for its “Capability Building” programs.
Total Supplemental Budget No. 1 was pegged at P4,013,659.35.