EMPLOYEES of the Rota Mayor’s Office may sue the administration if their office shuts down due to lack of funding, Mayor Benjamin T. Manglona said.
Citing the “arbitrary” reduction of the island’s budget allotments, Manglona is seeking a meeting with Gov. Juan N. Babauta and Finance Secretary Frank Villanueva.
Due to the budget reductions, employment renewal documents of the resident directors and the Mayor’s Office employees have remained pending at the Department of Finance.
“Without the approval of our renewal employees, the Mayor’s Office would be left with no employees,” Manglona said. “Should that happen, we may be compelled to close down our office.”
Manglona, moreover, said that the resident directors have not received their salaries since April.
“Please be aware that the employees are now contemplating filing a lawsuit to protect their employment,” the mayor said in a letter to the chairman of the island’s legislative delegation, Sen. Ricardo S. Atalig, R-Rota.
According to the mayor, the administration imposed a 13.5 percent cut on the municipal government’s budget allotment for the first and second quarters, and another 8 percent reduction on the third and fourth quarters.
“This…caused the…possible termination of (the employees) to bail out other personnel problems,” he said.
“This solution to the budget crisis seems unfair to these employees, robbing them of their budgeted salaries to save others,” he added.
Manglona proposed that legislation be passed to grant him reprogramming powers over the island’s current funds.
He noted that at least two departments—Public Safety and Health—“continue to feed on overtime…while some resident departments scrape to buy a tank of gas.”
