“Tom Jones” is again making the rounds of government offices this month.
No, this has no reference to the Welsh vocalist of the 1960s, but his name is used as an informal description of “Job Order” or casual employees who will be terminated at the end of this month.
“Tom Jones” here actually means Taman ra sa June.
Along this line, the Job Order employees are now being subjected to performance or loyalty audits.
It is widely believed that Job Order employees are people who are appointed as their reward for helping the appointing official get elected to office.
There are, of course, Job Order employees who deserve to be in government.
But in the case pointed out by Mayor Manuel Sagarbarria, whereby the employees disappear after logging in, and who appear again only to log out at the end of the day, they’d better start preparing for a new life or career outside of government.
There are also Job Order employees who were disloyal to the person who appointed them. Gov. Roel Degamo tells of some employees who had the gall to bet that he would lose the election!
These people should not anymore wait to be told to leave — the handwriting on the wall is very clear, even to the unaided eye. Tom Jones — Taman ra sa June.
Aside from personnel changes, the elected public officials should by now start to prepare themselves for the next three years. This is the time to give flesh to the campaign promises of improving the lives of their constituents.
How do they intend to provide jobs (aside from Job Order appointments), adequate health care, food, and homes to more than 1 million people in Negros Oriental after June?
We’re all ears.
