MANDAUE CITY, Cebu
Like in previous cases when a new local government chief executive comes in, employees in city hall or the provincial capitol are first to be impacted with the transition of governance as 'streamlining' and 'reorganization' becomes the order of the day.

This is not a farfetched trend in the majority—if not all—of local government units (LGUs) across the country like what is happening now in the City of Mandaue in Cebu province.

On the first day of the job, Mandaue mayor Thadeo Jovito 'Jonkie' Ouano has already initiated a review of the city’s workforce, explain that this has to be done to make sure it meets the operational needs of the local government.

Based on record, Mandaue’s workforce is currently at about 13,000 employees, which is larger than the previous estimate of 11,000.

"This review aims to identify unnecessary positions and improve efficiency (and) while only minimal changes would be made to department heads initially, a thorough review of all offices will be conducted. We will review og kinsay puwede ilisan og dili gani necessary nganong ato mang usbon,” the new mayor pointed out.
The personnel review is one of Ouano’s first orders of business, alongside an inventory of city assets, properties and cash on hand. The goal, the mayor rationalized, is to ensure the workforce is the right size and to save Mandaue between ₱100 million to ₱120 million annually.

Ouano also revealed that some employees who had been moved to different departments by the previous administration would be returned to their original units. It was discovered during the transition that certain offices had not only moved employees but also asked for more job order (JO) or contract-of-service (CoS) workers, which further increased the staff numbers.