ANGELES CITY – On his first day as this city’s hizzoner, Mayor Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr. announced a strict “one-strike-policy” against erring employees.
He vowed to take action against employees who virtually indulge in extortion by charging cash in exchange for expediting transactions with the city government.
Lazatin said the policy also covers those working at the city-owned Ospital ning Angeles (ONA).
During his inaugural speech last Monday at the Sapa Libutad Elementary School, he vowed to root out “rotten eggs” or “those who ask money for fixing permits, arranging discounts on real property taxes, fixing marriage licenses, annulments, adoptions and facilitating building permits.”
Lazatin said he would “hire investigators and legal assistants to go after erring city hall employees” in his bid to maintain transparency in his administration.
“I will strengthen the internal affairs division by hiring investigators and legal assistants that will be tasked to investigate these rotten eggs and I will make sure that they will not have a place in my administration or in any government agency,” he also said.
His father, the late former mayor and congressman Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin Sr was also known to be intolerant of employees “using their position to get grease money from businessmen.”
The newly installed mayor said that under his administration, “there will be no more job order employees. Employees that are hired on a project basis will be signing contracts of services prepared and issued only by the City Human Resources Department.”
