Capitol JOs may stay despite outsourcing

CEBU, Philippines — Renewed job order employees of the Cebu Provincial Capitol may still be retained even with the outsourcing of the medical and clerical personnel.

Last June 30, at least 1,084 job order and casual employees have been renewed amid the massive termination in provincial and district hospitals and different provincial departments.

Bernard Calderon, Provincial General Services Officer, said the renewal contract signed by the retained employees were only good for two months. This is while awaiting the actual outsourcing of medical and clerical employees.

Although their contract ends upon the outsourcing proper, Calderon assured that the JOs and casual employees may be absorbed by the outsourcing company upon the recommendation of their respective department heads.

“And ilang performance atong basehan nga ma-absorb pud sila sa agency,” he said.

This would mean that their employer would now be the agency and not the Province of Cebu. Consequently, they will no longer be covered by the Salary Standardization Law.

It can be recalled that there was a two-week delay in the bidding process for the provincial service providers due to the bidder’s lack of requirements. Because of this, the province had to extend the contract until the definite start of the outsourcing process today.

LPB Service Corporation Cebu was awarded as the service provider for both categories. The winning bid included P176,661,042.12 for  medical personnel and P82,966,927.39 for non-medical personnel.

A resolution passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan authorized Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to sign and execute a Memorandum of Agreement with LBP last September 23.

In the same week, in September 26, the Province of Cebu successfully entered the contract to outsource 443 medical employees and 359 non-medical and clerical employees.

The contract will last for 12 months but may be extended if the need arises. (FREEMAN)