Mayor seeks budget to pay TCC workers

CEBU, Philippines - Talisay City Mayor Johnny De los Reyes will be asking the City Council for the inclusion of supplemental budget this year so that unpaid non-teaching personnel of Talisay City College could be paid.

To recall, at least 30 non-teaching personnel have sought the help of City Council members in order to claim their salaries. The mayor did not release the fund reportedly because of the pending presidency issue at TCC.

"I will be cleaning everything. Ato nang pa-sweldohan ang tanang personnel diha sa TCC, whether ma-belong sila kang Ritchel Bacaltos o kang Paulus Cañete basta nag-serbisyo sa eskwelahan. I will be asking the City Council for the passage of the supplemental budget," De los Reyes said.

The city has to appropriate close to P300,000 for unpaid honoraria of the non-teaching personnel including that of Bacaltos and Cañete. 

The issue arose when De los Reyes appointed Cañete as head of the college, in effect replacing Bacaltos. But Bacaltos argued that the order was illegal because Sangguniang Panlungsod Ordinance No. 2008-11 enacted on Dec. 10, 2008 says only the school's BOT has the authority to designate an officer-in-charge of the school.

It was the same board which, through Resolution No. 21 S-201, appointed Bacaltos as acting president of the college on June 5, 2013.

The city approved P12 million in budget for the operation of the college, including salaries and wages. Non-teaching personnel receive P6,500  per month.

But the wages for the 30 non-teaching personnel reportedly was included in the P12-million budget for the calendar year 2014 because some personnel, including Bacaltos, were appointed by the Board of Trustees of the TCC although there was no contract to support the claim.

Right now, the TCC is headed by CHED Regional Director Freddie Bernal, who will temporarily assume the presidency of the TCC until a search committee appoints a new president.

The search committee will be composed of representatives from the CHED, the Cebu Normal University and Cebu Technological University. (FREEMAN)