ISABELA town mayor Joselito Malabor confirmed that he will rehire 72 of the 234 job order (JO) employees of the Municipal Government who were terminated more than a week ago.
Malabor said in a phone interview Monday, May 1 that he will issue an order today to “recall” the said workers as they passed the performance evaluation conducted by his office last week.
There was also a recommendation from the department of heads to rehire them, he said, adding that most of them are utility workers under the local government’s Maintenance and Other Operating Expenses budget.
He said his office will also check what benefits are due to the terminated workers.
Malabor also said that he hired three co-terminus employees, including two secretaries and an executive assistant, under the Mayor’s Office.
The mayor added that his office will implement a community-based program, which would need more personnel in the field.
Malabor, a former vice mayor, succeeded Mayor Enrique Montilla III, who died of pneumonia leading to cardiac arrest on April 13.
Malabor’s move to terminate the JO workers had earned the ire of the public, but he insisted that the move has nothing to do with politics and only part of the transition process.