BY MAE SINGUAY
BACOLOD City – Mayor Monico Puentevella has not enforced an approved city ordinance beneficial to the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s (SP) staff.
For this, he has earned the SP employees’ ire.
Thirty personnel of the SP are on “silent protest” over this official inaction. They have started wearing black shirts and arm bands.
“City Ordinance 08-13-654 would not only upgrade our status. It would also improve our financial capacity,” said Henry Cobrado, president of the SP’s Bacolod Alliance of Technical Assistant/Staff.
The city ordinance, approved September 25, 2013, created 30 positions in the SP staff – local legislative Staff Officer I, Salary Grade 11 / Step 1 and 15 positions of local legislative Staff Officer II, Salary Grade 13 / Step 1.
Reached for his reaction, Puentevella said he has no problem with the ordinance.
But “I was informed that there are rules in the Civil Service Commission that I may violate if I approve its implementation,” Puentevella said.
He did not elaborate.
“We are appealing to Mayor Puentevella. Please implement the said ordinance,” said Cobrado.
He said the implementation would mean improving the SP staff’s capacity to cope with the increasing prices of basic commodities and utilities, and the cost of their children’s education.
Four letters have been sent to the City Mayor’s Office regarding the ordinance since last year but nothing happened, said Cobrado.
Puentevella said he had received a letter from Erman Aguirre, human resource management officer of the city hall, stating that there were Civil Service Commission rules to follow, thus his inaction on the ordinance.
He, however, did not say what these rules were./PN
