A political dispute has emerged in Cebu City over the delayed salaries of nearly 1,000 local government workers. While top city officials exchange blame for the backlog, Councilor Dave Tumulak, chairman of the City Council’s committee on budget and finance, has pointed to complex bureaucratic procedures and late departmental submissions as the actual drivers of the issue.
The controversy centers on an estimated 956 job order (JO) and project-based employees who have gone unpaid for months. Some workers have not received compensation for services rendered between January and March 2026, while others have pending pay dating back to October 2025. The situation escalated into political friction after Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña blamed City Administrator Albert Tan for the delays, while Mayor Nestor Archival argued that the City Council’s approval process and stringent documentary requirements created the backlog.
The roots of the payroll backlog
According to Tumulak, the delays are a recurring issue at City Hall that stems from compliance with existing accounting, auditing and budgetary regulations rather than a single office’s failure. A major operational factor is the learning curve for staff under the current administration. Many payroll makers are new to their positions, a change Tumulak attributes to the mayor exercising his prerogative to select new personnel to handle manpower matters.
“I understand that this is the first year of our mayor. He also has the right to choose who among the payroll makers. Mga bag-o man gud ni sila,” Tumulak said.
Committee records reveal that many delays occur before paperwork even reaches the City Council for review. For instance, manpower requests for departments such as the Department of Social Welfare and Services (DSWS), the Office of the Vice Mayor and the Office of Senior Citizens Affairs were only endorsed to the council on March 24, despite the workers’ appointments taking effect on Jan. 1. Furthermore, frequent revisions to the hiring lists complicate the processing timeline.
“The selection of personnel is under the Office of the Mayor. Daghan kaayong mga job orders nga sige og usab-usab sa mga pangalan. Mao na nga ma-delay gyud,” Tumulak explained.
Legislative review and budget limits
Before workers can be paid, their manpower requests must be vetted by the committee on budget and finance to ensure compliance with Section 12 of the 2026 Annual Budget Ordinance. This review confirms that hiring matches the 2026 budget allocations, avoids redundant employment, and maintains fiscal prudence.
The process slows down further when departments exceed their authorized budgets. The committee found that the City Markets Office, DSWS, the Cultural and Historical Affairs Office and the Cebu City Anti-Mendicancy Office had exceeded their hiring limits. This required officials to locate remaining balances, declared savings, or augmented funds before the payroll could be recommended for approval.
Post-approval steps and interim solutions
Even after the council approves a request, the administrative routing adds another one to two weeks. Resolutions must be prepared by the City Council Secretariat, signed by the presiding officer and routed through the Budget Office and City Treasurer’s Office before payments can be released. To minimize this specific bottleneck, the committee on budget and finance has allowed departments to proceed with payroll processing using draft resolutions, attaching the official copies later to fulfill auditing requirements.
Tumulak also clarified that the city administrator plays a minimal role in the situation, as that office only handles checks at the final stage of processing. “In regards to the payrolls, dili na mag-agi sa city administrator except sa tseke,” he said.
Rather than continuing the political dispute, Tumulak urged the executive and legislative branches to cooperate by assisting newly assigned payroll personnel and streamlining the signing process to prevent future delays for the City’s contractual workforce. “Rather, I would suggest to the mayor and the vice mayor: sign it right away and choose the right person,” he said. / CAV
