Urdaneta terminates 300 casual workers
BELT-TIGHTENING MEASURES
URDANETA—Some 300 out of the 500 casual employees of the city government here will be retrenched following the reduction of its Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) by P44 million in 2012.
The city’s reduced IRA, a fund sourced from the national government, was the result of the creation of 16 new cities by Congress that now share in the allotment for the cities.
Mayor Amadeo Perez IV said there are deductions to be imposed by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) on all old cities per their 2009 budget to be implemented next year.
The League of Cities, in which Urdaneta is a member, earlier questioned the creation of the 16 new cities but the group lost its case after the Supreme Court flip-flopped on its decision and eventually denied a motion for reconsideration filed on the issue.
Perez said the city government has no choice but to let go of its 300 casual employees to ensure funding for more urgent projects that will benefit the majority of the people.
“Though the services of casual employees are important, equally important are projects meant for the greater majority of the people of Urdaneta,” the mayor said.
At the same time, Perez said the city government will intensify collection of delinquent taxes, especially those from stall rentals in the city market to shore more revenues for the city.
A second-class city, like Dagupan and San Carlos cities, Urdaneta is getting P300 million as its yearly share from the IRA, bigger than its local income pegged at P200 million yearly.
Though local income and IRA add up to only P500 million, the city approved a P700 million budget this year, which is the biggest budget projected among all cities in Pangasinan and the whole of Region 1.
Urdaneta City has two high-rise markets, the upper floor of which is rented out to a mall.
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