City council employees won't receive salaries due to Makati leadership row

More than a hundred employees of the Makati City council may not receive their salaries at the end of the month due to acting Mayor Kid Peña's alleged refusal to sign the necessary papers for the funds' release.

"Sad to announce that members of the Sangguniang Panlungsod will not be able to receive their salaries because of the refusal of Vice Mayor Kid Peña to sign the necessary documents," acting city administrator Vissia Aldon said in a report on "24 Oras" Wednesday.

As the vice mayor, Peña heads the city council and signs the release of salaries to members and employees.

However, he stands firm on the Department of the Interior and Local Government's recognition of him as the acting mayor of Makati after it served the Office of Ombudsman's six-month preventive suspension order against Mayor Junjun Binay.



Binay, on the other hand, brought the issue to the Court of Appeals, which issued a temporary restraining order against the suspension.

Despite this, the DILG told Peña to perform his duties as acting mayor. Since then, Binay and Peña have both been acting as mayors of Makati City.

As Makati's acting mayor, Peña said it is not his job to sign the payroll of the city council. He said it should be the task of the acting vice mayor.

According to DILG National Capital Region director Renato Brion, the Commission on Elections should determine Makati City's acting mayor.

With this, some councilors have expressed their disappointment over Peña's decision.

"I'm sure 'pag nalaman nilang hindi sila makakasweldo today or tomorrow or Friday, nakakalungkot naman may mga anak sila may bahay na babayarang kuryente, tubig na sana naman isipin niya 'yun," said Councilor Mayeth Casal-Uy.

Aldon, on the other hand, said they will look for ways so the city council members and employees could receive their salaries. "We all have to sit down with our legal officers if we can find any possibility that we can come up with something legal for them to be able to get their salaries," she said.

Meanwhile, the employees of the Makati City Hall won't have to hurdle through payroll problems since Binay has already signed the papers necessary for the release of their salaries.

Binay, son of Vice President Jejomar Binay, was ordered suspended in connection with the graft charges he is facing over the alleged overpricing in the Makati City Hall Building II project. —Trisha Macas/KBK, GMA News