FILE PHOTO: Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto. INQUIRER FILES
MANILA, Philippines — Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto on Tuesday assured residents that applications to the Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES) will be treated fairly and that everyone will have an equal chance.
The local government opened 700 available slots for the program earlier in the day, which aims to provide temporary employment for underprivileged but deserving students and out-of-school youth.
Sotto stressed that the available slots were restricted because of budget constraints and limited office space for selected applicants.
“Ang importante, walang palakasan, at patas ang sistema para sa mga sumusubok mag-apply,” he said in the comment section on the Pasig City Public Information Office’s Facebook post.
(What’s important is that there’s no favoritism and the system is fair for everyone trying to apply.)
“Expected talaga na sa dami ng aplikante ay sabay-sabay ang pag-access sa link. Ibig sabihin, malamang sa hindi, ubos din kaagad ang slots sa loob ng ilang minuto lamang. Malamang din na [magkakaroon ng heavy traffic] ang site. Subukan i-refresh. Pero pantay-pantay naman ang chances ng bawat isa para makapasok,” he also said.
(It is expected that since there will be many applicants, accessing the link will be simultaneous. It means that probably slots will also be filled within minutes. Also probably, the site will experience heavy traffic. So try to refresh the page. But chances will be equal for everyone trying to get in.)
As of this writing, Pasig City’s SPES application portal no longer accepts registrations.
Sotto then appealed for patience and understanding of those who could not secure a slot in SPES.
“Mga kabataan, matuto po tayong umunawa. Hindi porket hindi ka pinalad ay mang-aakusa ka na. Kung maaalala ninyo, dati, dinadaan sa barangay o mga konsehal ang ibang slots. Ngayon, kahit mayor, walang reserved slots. Tinatanggal natin ang palakasan at padrino system,” the mayor said.
(To the youth, please learn to understand. Just because you weren’t given a slot doesn’t mean you should lodge accusations against the system. If you recall, some slots were given to barangays and councilors before. Now, even the mayor doesn’t have reserved slots. So we’re removing nepotism and the padrino system.)
Aside from his renewed commitment to eliminate nepotism in Pasig City, Sotto is also known for his strong-willed objective to denormalize corruption in the local government.
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