NEWS BRIEFS
UNPAID CASUALS IN CEBU CITY HALL
ABOUT 1,000 casual workers in Cebu City Hall have yet to be paid since Jan. 2 due to the non-renewal of their contracts, the Human Resources and Development Office (HRDO) said yesterday.
Sonny Gimenea, asst. HRDO chief, said these employees are detailed at the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom), Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries (DVMF), Market Operations Division (MOD), City Abattoir and the Parks and Playgrounds Commission.
“Once their appointments are renewed their payroll will be processed. There’s a slight delay. By next week, they may receive their salaries,” he said in yesterday’s press conference at the mayor’s office.
Gimenea said the department heads are still working on the contracts of these casuals.
He said they only process the appointment paper of casuals based on the endorsement of their respective department or office heads.
As of December 31, the Cebu City government is employing the services of 4,667 personnel. This include casuals who number 3,244 and regular employees at 1,344.
Gimenea said HRDO already worked on the renewal of contracts of over 2,000 casuals as of yesterday.
He said they have to complete the renewal of contracts of the casuals before the election employment ban on March 29. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac
NO CAMPAIGN BLOGS FOR GOV’T EMPLOYEES, OFFICIALS
GOVERNMENT employees and officials are prohibited by a Commission on Elections (Comelec) resolution to endorse or promote candidates online, it doesn’t restrict them from expressing their views on issues.
Comelec provincial supervisor Lionel Marco Castillano said the resolution stated that “personal views and preferences” for candidates in blogs aren’t considered election campaigning unless expressed by government employees and officials.
Castillano said the resolution didn’t quantify whether or not government officials and employees are likewise prohibited from campaigning on social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter. “It only mentioned blogs,” he said.
Comelec Resolution No. 9615 referred to blogs as “websites on which an individual or group of users, respectively, record news, opinions, and information, in varying degrees of regularity.”
A micro-blog, the resolution said, refers to blogging format which allows users to exchange small elements of content—referred to as posts or status updates—such as short sentences, images, or links to video material uploaded to the Internet.
“The Comelec resolves to regulate online campaigning. This does not mean that we prevent you from expressing your views online,” Castillano said.
The campaign period for national positions is on Feb. 12 while March 29 is for local positions. Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol
APOLOGY FOR USING SINULOG IN SEXY AD
AN event organizer apologized to church officials and Sinulog organizers for using the “Sinulog” event in publicity materials of a Manila produced program at a resto lounge last night.
Joemel ‘CJ’ Temio, entertainment manager of the Lakwatsa bar in Mandaue City, admitted to creating the layout of a newspaper ad of the event dubbed “Dance Again Party Tour.”
The advertisement in a local daily showed a topless photo of starlet Saicy Aguila, the show’s main performer. The ad then read, ‘Sinulog 2013 proudly presents Saicy Aguila with temptation ladies and hot men.’
Ricky Ballesteros, Sinulog Foundation Inc. executive director, said he was surprised to see the ad yesterday morning since he never gave permission to the organizer to use the name of the Sinulog.
“They didn’t ask my approval. That is supposedly not allowed. We even have a rule for our dancers not to wear sexy costumes,” Ballesteros said.
He said he asked the tour organizers to remove the word ‘Sinulog’ from all their promotional materials and explain to their audience that the festival has nothing to do with their event
Temio said it was the show’s production company from Manila who sent the pictures for the ad. He declined to name the company. Correspondent Patricia Andrea D. Pateña
