Rota workers to sue mayor by Oct. 1 if…

If they are not renewed by Oct. 1, the terminated Rota municipal employees plan on suing Mayor Benjamin Manglona over possible labor violations. The group alleged that the mayor did not renew their contracts for political reasons.

“All of us have agreed to bring it to court by Oct. 1. It’s unfair and it’s a discrimination against us,” said Larry John “Bradlee” T. Atalig, 30, a project development officer.

He said all seven terminated personnel have families to worry about.

“I have my family. I have two young kids. All of us have families [to feed],” he said over a telephone interview yesterday.

In a separate interview, account clerk Joaquina King, who also received a non-renewal notice on Sept. 13, said she has no doubts that “it’s purely politics.”

In terms of competence at work, she said that she has done her work diligently and even earned a leadership award in 2004.

“He’s saying it’s not political and poor work performance. That’s a lie. I’m deeply hurt and my children are bothered by all these accusations. I’ve been working hard,” she said.

She also disputed the mayor’s earlier claim that there is no funding to keep them.

“He wants to save money at our expense? Why is he hiring new people?” she asked.

King said she began working as a time keeper in 2001 and moved up to become an account clerk.

Mayor Manglona’s office was reached yesterday for comments but he was not available. In an earlier interview, he vehemently denied his employees claims.

He said his decision to end their employment was “not political but based on good judgment.”

He, likewise, said that his decision was due to budgetary constraints and the alleged poor work performance of the concerned employees.

Meantime, Senate majority leader Paul A. Manglona warned yesterday that more people are believed to be on the way out from the municipal office because of their alleged lack of support for the mayor’s political affiliation.

The mayor is supporting a local opposition candidate.

The terminated employees are believed to be supporting the Republican Party.

Further, the senator belied the mayor’s previous statement that the local government was already incurring a deficit, which prompted him not to renew some contracts.

Senator Manglona said that based on his consultations with Management and Budget director Ed Tenorio, “there’s no budget overrun on Rota.”

“It can’t happen because the budget office monitors and follows the spending,” he said.