Angeles workers go on sick leave over benefits

ANGELES CITY — All love between City Hall workers and Mayor Carmelo Lazatin seemed to have been lost on Valentine’s Day as hundreds of city employees, including those of the government-run Ospital ning Angeles, filed yesterday indefinite sick leaves effective Monday to protest the mayor’s failure to grant their bonuses and other benefits amounting to least P7.5 million since last year.

Since last month, some 1,000 employees at City Hall in Barangay Pulong Maragul and at the Ospital ning Angeles in Barangay Pampanga have been holding daily 15-minute noise barrages, starting at 3 p.m., to demand the granting of P5,000 GMA bonuses they were supposed to have received last Christmas. Lazatin, however, has reportedly been ignoring them.

Isabel Ruiz, president of the Association of Government Employees for New and Dynamic Angeles City (Agenda), said nearly 800 employees would not report to work starting Monday, citing "emotional and physical stress due to extreme demoralization" in their sick leaves.

Protest march

The employees are holding today a protest march downtown to inform the public about their grievances.

Ruiz said the city government averages some P40 million in annual savings and could therefore grant their bonuses.

She also claimed that Lazatin has also failed to give them their 13th month pay, birthday bonus of P500 each, hazard pay for traffic aides and street sweepers, and rice allowances as stipulated in the collective negotiations agreement (CAN) which Agenda signed with Lazatin and other local officials in December 2001.

According to Agenda officials, the P7.5 million needed for the GMA bonuses comprises only 18.75 percent of the total savings of the city government.

Ruiz said only a skeletal force would report to the Ospital ning Angeles to handle emergencies. However, traffic aides, street sweepers and garbage collectors would not report to work starting Monday.

Signing bonus

She said the city employees were also not fully given the so-called P5,000 "signing bonus" after the CNA was signed in the presence of officials of the Civil Service Commission.

"It was a bonus that was supposed to be given by the city government upon the signing of the CNA as a sign of goodwill, but only a little over P1,000 was given to the employees," she said.

She cited National Budget Circular No. 2004-4 as stipulating that GMA bonuses were to be given to government employees not later that Dec. 15 last year.

"We are puzzled why a city as big as Angeles could not give such bonuses while smaller towns were able to give bonuses," said Agenda vice president Joey Pring.

He said a P10,000 GMA bonus was given to municipal employees of Mabalacat, P7,000 in Magalang, and P5,000 in Porac.

Ruiz said that during a general assembly of Agenda last week, Vice Mayor Ricardo Zalamea told her and other union officials that Lazatin would give the GMA bonuses only if they would resign.

For his part, Lazatin said his refusal was based on Agenda’s failure to account for the P800,000 financial assistance he had released to the union last year.

"He should have checked with the city accounting office where we have fully accounted for the funds," Pring said.

He said the assistance included P500,000, which Agenda used for the dental, medical and other needs of city employees, particularly during times of personal emergencies.