ACTING Labor and Immigration Secretary Joaquin A. Tenorio has disconnected several DOLI telephone lines and cellular phones, and announced that his department will no longer lease vehicles from the private sector.
“I have terminated the use of these facilities (as) part of our cost-cutting measures,” Tenorio said during yesterday’s Cabinet meeting.
A directive issued by Gov. Juan N. Babauta yesterday said the monthly cellular phone expenses of each employee of the Office of the Governor should not exceed $100.
Any excess expenses will be paid by the employee, he said.
Tenorio said he terminated 23 of DOLI’s 100 individual telephone lines. This will result in annual savings of $11,256, he said.
He noted that even small offices at DOLI had five telephone lines. Six out of the more than 12 cellular phones previously issued to DOLI were also disconnected, and this will allow the government to save $9,600 a year.
The Transition Committee, in its report, said the government paid $19,462.01 for the use of DOLI mobile phones from Oct. 1999 to Sept. 2000, while $23,180.50 was paid for the Oct. 2000 to Sept. 2001 billings.
The report added that the use of DOLI pagers cost the government $9,421.54 from March 2000 to Nov. 2001.
Tenorio also ended the lease of four vehicles used by DOLI. This will save the government $35,100 a year, he said.
Babauta and Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente lauded Tenorio’s efforts in implementing cost-cutting measures at DOLI.
