Tom: No OBO request to hire new personnel

CEBU, Philippines - Mayor Tomas Osmeña said building official Josefa Ylanan has not submitted to him any request to hire additional technical personnel for the Office of the Building Official, although he did not promise to approve such a request right away.

This was what Osmeña said when The FREEMAN asked for his reaction about the announcement of Ylanan that until now OBO still lacks technical personnel to process the applications for building and occupational permits and to conduct field inspections of structures.

Ylanan also claimed that she already submitted her request several years ago, through the Human Resource and Doctrine Development.

The mayor said he cannot be blamed if OBO lacks technical personnel because the issue has not reached him.

Cebu City only has 12 technical personnel, meaning licensed engineers and architects, who are divided to handle different tasks. Nine of these technical personnel handle the processing of applications for building and occupancy permits, while only three are assigned to inspect structures.

Ylanan earlier said that it would be impossible for the three field inspectors to inspect the thousands of structures in the city. 

While the City Council had made a series of requests for the OBO to conduct inspections of all boarding and lodging houses of the city, particularly during the opening of classes, Ylanan said they cannot attend to the request due to lack of personnel.

She has suggested that the city will hire even 15 more technical personnel for OBO to make them effective of their task.

“Sobra na god sa two million pesos ang among fees nga makolekta matag tuig mao nga nakaingon ko nga angay na g’yod unta nga mo-hire ang city og additional technical personnel,” Ylanan said. —Rene U. Borromeo/BRP(FREEMAN NEWS)