Several retired job-order employees of the Pasig City local government on Tuesday, May 17, received retirement benefits as part of the local government unit's advocacy to reform and improve the city's services to both the public and its employees.

"Pag retire ng J.O., kadalasan "t.y." (thank you) na lang. Pero ngayon, meron tayong retirement benefits o "gratuity pay" na P10,000 per year sa J.O. Ito ay pasasalamat ng LGU sa serbisyo nila bilang mga kawani ng ating pamahalaan- marami sa kanila ay street sweeper, PHA o dating BHW (barangay health worker), atbp. (Upon the retirement of a J.O., they usually just get a "thank you." But now, we are giving them benefits or gratuity pay of P10,000 per year. This is the LGU's way of giving thanks for their service as employees of the city government. Most of them are street sweepers, PHAs or former BHWs, etc.)," Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto said in his Facebook post.

He added that the LGU now has 158 retiree-beneficiaries.

On May 4, Sotto said that the city government has regularized over 2,000 of its employees and promoted more than 5,000.

He explained that a total of 2,397 Pasig City employees have been regularized from July 2019 to April 2022. Of this number, 1,097 who have been serving the LGU as casual employees for 10-15 years have been given regular positions, as well as 556 employees working for the past 15-20 years, and 304 employees working for more than 20 years.

The city government has also given permanent employment to 440 casual employees who are mostly healthcare professionals.

Meanwhile, 5,783 employees have also been promoted by the city government and has given 152 job order employees with retirement benefits.

“Nung konsehal ako, lagi ko silang tinatanong, “Bakit puro contractual, casual, at job order ang empleyado natin? Bakit bakante ang 91 percent sa permanent plantilla positions ng city hall?” Ang sagot nila sa akin noon, wala daw qualified ma-regular, konti daw ang may eligibility... Pinag-aralan ko ito. Ginawa ko pang mini-thesis nung nag masters ko (When I was still a councilor, I always asked them “Why are all our employees contractual, casual, and job order only? Why is 91 percent of our permanent plantilla positions in the city hall vacant?” Their usual answer to me is that no one qualified for regularization and only a small number of employees is eligible for it. I have studied this and even made it a mini-thesis during my masters),” Sotto said.

“Nung naging mayor ako, nagpakilala tayo ng matinding reporma sa HR. Kapag mas maayos ang HR, tataas din ang antas ng serbisyo ng LGU (When I became mayor, we introduced intensive reforms in HR . If the HR is effective, the quality of service of the LGU will also improve),” he added.

The mayor explained that in three years, the city government has accomplished multiple feats that were said to be impossible before.

“2,397 employees regularized (karamihan dito mahigit 10 years nang casual). Nilalayo sa politika, binibigyan ng seguridad at dignidad ang mga empleyado na matatagal nang naglilingkod sa atin, prioridad sa salary increase ang mga ordinaryong manggagagawa gaya ng street sweeper at utility worker, naglunsad ng L&D program para tumaas ang kalidad ng serbisyo, at marami pang iba (2,397 employees regularized (most of them were casual employees for over 10 years). We are distancing them from politics, providing security and dignity to our employees who are serving us for years already, prioritizing the salary increase of ordinary employees such as street sweepers and utility workers, implementation of L&D program to improve the quality of service, and many others),” Sotto said.