Mayor denies ‘patronage’ in hiring of gov’t workers

BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan denied allegations  the city government practices “patronage” in hiring of government workers saying applicants wanting to enter public service are taken in based on qualifications.

 “We base our discretion to appoint on who among the applicants are the most qualified based not only on their education but also on their experience and performance rating if the position they are applying is for promotion,” Domogan said, adding it is difficult for new graduates to enter the public service because of the limited positions being opened for application.

He cited the example of the position of nurse that was opened to applicants early this year which invited nearly 200 qualified applicants indicating that there are really many individuals who are still in need of work but nothing can be done because what was opened was for one position only.

According to him, open positions are the ones opened for every interested applicants while promotional positions are only open to those who are considered to be the qualified next in rank.

However, Domogan said being a qualified next in rank to the promotional position does not guarantee that they are the ones to be automatically appointed to the vacant position since they have to undergo stringent screening by the city’s personnel evaluation board composed of the city mayor, city human resource management officer, representatives from the level where the position is vacant and the department head of the city government that needs the vacancy.

Moreover, what is provided in the law is that qualified next in rank employees to the promotional position are preferred for appointment, thus, the appointing authority has the wide latitude of discretion on who to appoint for promotion considering all other things and performance.

“Patronage appointment is not within our vocabulary because we select employees based on their credentials and capabilities to be in the right positions in the city government,” Domogan said.

He added there are limited positions being opened for application because of the prohibition of the Local Government Code on the budgetary allocation for personal services whereby a ceiling of 45 percent is set for personnel while the remaining 55 percent of the budget of the local government must be earmarked for maintenance and other operating expenses and capital outlay.

Domogan appealed to aspiring government workers not to be disappointed if they are not appointed in their numerous attempts to enter the government service but instead continue to hone their skills and knowledge and that there will come a time that they will be eventually hired and will be given a chance to serve the people in whatever capacity.

He advised applicants to look for entry positions and file their applications because they will have a better chance of entering the government service rather than contending with government workers who are already in the service seeking promotion since those qualified next in rank will be the ones to be the priority to be appointed in the promotional positions. – Dexter A. See