By Junex Doronio
CEBU CITY — The phrase “It’s lonely at the top” seems to apply to Mayor Michael “Mike” Rama who — despite his good intentions to bring cheers to the families of City Hall employees this Christmas– was bluntly blocked by the City Council.
Following the City Council’s junking of Rama’s promise to City Hall employees that would receive a Christmas bonus of P35,000, which is a significant increase from last year’s P20,000, the City Council on December 13, only approved to grant P20,000 bonus for casual and regular workers.
On the other hand, only P5,000 each was approved for Job Order employees (JOs).
Rama would have wanted a P10,000 Christmas bonus for each of the JO employees.
“How much was given to the job order (JO) employees? Only P5,000. That’s not what I wanted! This hurts me. I’m confused. Is there another City Hall? Is there another mayor? I’ve never had this experience because I’ve never dictated. I asked and checked how much bonus we could give,” Rama earlier lamented.
The City Council also approved the ordinance authorizing the second supplemental budget amounting to P337.9 million.
Rama expressed dismay over the budget cut.
“I am reserving my comment on the matter until I talk with the Local Finance Committee (LFC). And I will do the scrutiny on the deliberation of the Sanggunian and I will make a clear position on the matter,” the mayor said.
(IAmigo/MNM)
