The Commission on Audit (COA) questioned the hiring of Job Order (JO) workers by the local government of Hilongos as more than half of the said workers perform clerical and administrative functions that were supposed to be handled by regular employees.
COA said that the local government hired 285 job order employees (JOs) or 244% more than its 117 regulars – which cost it P17.04 million.
Aside from said observation, COA also found discrepancy between the number of hired personnel and the actual people reporting to work. Specifically, only 12 out of the 63 alleged JO hires for the Mayor’s office reported to work.
On the other hand, only 4 out of the 42 listed JO employees reported under the Office of the Municipal Engineer, while 31 out of the supposed 46 worked for the municipality’s environment and sanitary office.
The LGU clarifies, however, that the “office assignment of job order personnel as stated in their contracts is only to identify which office the JO salary will be charged and not necessarily their actual office assignment.”
The LGU agreed to fill in vacant regular positions instead of hiring more JOs and to reassess its hiring guidelines, as provided for in the Local Government Code, as reiterated by COA.
Source: Rappler | COA flags irregularities in Leyte town’s hiring of job order employees
