Manila court favors City Hall casuals in payroll row
In a victory for the nonregular employees of the Manila city council, a local court ordered the release of their salaries withheld since April.
Judge Daniel Villanueva of the Manila Regional Trial Court Branch 49 granted the petition of 16 casual and contractual workers under the council and the office of Vice Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso, and ordered city budget officer Heidi Rosero and treasurer Marissa de Guzman to sign their payrolls and disburse their salaries.
In a statement hailing the ruling, Domagoso said the order also paved the way for the “reinstatement of the 1,197 dismissed Manila city hall employees” in the city council alone.
This is because Villanueva barred the implementation of Executive Order No. 15, which was issued by Mayor Alfredo Lim in March and led to the ”mass layoffs,” according to the vice mayor.
Villanueva described as “invalid and contrary to law” the executive order issued in by Lim reducing nonregular City Hall staff by 30 percent.
This was despite Lim’s explanation that the order was in response to a Commission on Audit memorandum asking the city government to take action on a P1.1 billion overpayment in personal services in 2011.
“There should have been no lawful impediment to process the payroll after the Vice Mayor had already approved the same. In fact, some of the payrolls were already signed and were already distributed to the paymasters until respondents backtracked and even allegedly erased their signatures (using) correction fluid,” added Villanueva, referring to Domagoso’s earlier testimony in court.
In a decision issued on Wednesday, the judge maintained: “The law appears to be quite clear that the appointment of employees or personnel in the city council or the legislative branch is well within the province of the Vice Mayor.”
The judge also noted that the case also reeked of politics. “Whatever political scores there are to be settled, it would seem that the casual employees are the first to be caught in the middle of the crossfire,” he said.
Council secretary Luch Gempis hailed the decision as a “vindication of our workers’ plight” and noted that the judge recognized the petition as a “class suit” that could benefit other workers in similar situations.
The 16 petitioners, along with 1,197 nonregular employees of the city council, were laid off as a result of Lim’s order. Hired in January, they were supposed to work until December 31 this year.
Domagoso and the councilors cited Lim’s move as one of the reasons why they crossed over to the camp of former President Joseph Estrada, Lim’s rival in the 2013 mayoral elections.
A lawyer for the respondents, city legal officer Renato de la Cruz, said they would appeal the decision on Monday as he criticized Villanueva’s opinion on Lim’s order.
“The (order) wasn’t questioned by the petition so why have it nullified? It seems he has already decided on the merits of the case,” De la Cruz said.
