More Quezon City employees regularized

MANILA, Philippines — The Quezon City government has granted permanent status to another batch of contractual employees as part of Mayor Joy Belmonte’s commitment to regularize long-time city hall workers.

A total of 254 employees have been regularized after passing hurdling the process of the Human Resource Merit Promotion and Selection Board earlier created by Belmonte.

Among those who were regularized was 55-year-old Precy Linag, who has been a contractual employee with the city’s Social Services and Development Department for the past 22 years.

“Finally, I became a permanent employee. I have dreamt of this for so long,” she said in Filipino.

Linag recounted receiving only P5,000 to P10,000 per month prior to Belmonte’s directive to increase the salary of contractual workers to “livable” wage as determined by the Department of Labor and Employment.

Linag was among the 31 city hall employees who were regularized after working for at least nine years with short-term renewable contracts.

Aside from security of tenure, regular government personnel receive benefits such as 13th month pay, performance-based bonus and other allowances.

Belmonte has committed to fast-track the regularization processes at city hall, especially for contractual workers who have been serving the local government for years.

“The time has come for Quezon City to depoliticize appointments and promotions and adhere to meritocracy,” she said.

“We ought to give deserving and hardworking city hall employees the security of tenure and all entitlements prescribed by law. We hope that this will motivate them to become more productive civil servants,” Belmonte added.