Why is Cebu City ignoring the endo issue?
Last December 5, I wrote a column entitled "Is the Cebu City government exempted from endo" because I learned that even if the Cebu City Traffic Office Management (CITOM) which I used to head was finally turned into a department and is now called the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) apparently I learned that despite being turned into a department, CCTO only has a handful of regular employees, while the rest of the CCTO workforce are still casuals even if many have worked in Cebu City for more than 20 years.
I wrote that column to appraise our councilors, but apparently no one cared to look into this problem and it seems that Cebu City would like to ignore this issue. Again, let me point out that in the private sector if an employee working for your company reaches six months, you either terminate the person or accept him or her as part of your regular workforce.
I dare say that Cebu City should correct this problem and give justice and human rights to their workers or employees who have been working for the City of Cebu for the last 15 to 20 years. I will not stop writing about this until I get a proper response from anyone from Cebu City.
To put an end to contractualization or "endo" was a campaign promise of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte. Then Senator Joel Villanueva filed Senate Bill no. 1116 or the "End of Endo or Contractualization Act of 2016" which seeks to ensure the regularization of workers' salaries and protect the welfare of workers.
I also wrote that the Manila International Airport Authority, running the NAIA, gave its 1,057 building attendants three-year contracts that will entitle them to a 13th month pay, health benefits, social insurance, among others. These contracts are renewable every three years. This was filed by Villanueva to end endo by giving longer contracts to its employees, and urged other government agencies to follow. But like I said, since I wrote that column, I got only dedma from Cebu City. Now should I report this to Pres. Duterte? Perhaps I should!
***
Finally Pres. Duterte revealed what he told the press a few days ago, which became a national cliffhanger, adding to speculation as to what government commission he would either abolish or have its officials resign. Now it can be told that the commission he was referring to was the Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor (PCUP) because the president found out that this commission failed to hold meetings and worse, its officials went on unnecessary trips abroad.
Pres. Duterte told the media, "Today I fired the whole Commission for the Urban Poor. One is because it is a collegial body and I have heard that they never had any hearing except for one or two. I have no personal reasons really to fire him (he was referring to PCUP Head Terry Ridon) except that he had too much too soon." It was revealed that Ridon travelled abroad seven times since he was appointed into the PCUP last September. Because of this, all government officials who need to travel abroad have to secure the approval of the Office of the President.
Indeed, travelling abroad is supposed to be a time to learn lessons because there is so much we can learn from what the other countries do. For instance travelling to Japan should teach us how to shop and conserve and bring only necessary items for our house so that you will have fewer things to throw into the garbage bin. But so many government officials, especially senators and congressmen regularly travel at the expense of the people's money and they don't even introduce laws to help improve our ways.
I have never heard of any Filipino president fire an entire Commission because of wasting the government's resources. This should put the entire government bureaucracy on the alert that they just can't travel anytime they want even if they are invited. More importantly, the PCUP's role is supposed to uplift the plight of the urban poor, but how could they do that when they only meet once or twice? Kudos to Pres. Duterte for doing this for the sake of the Filipino people.
- Latest
