Hundreds lose jobs as Borongan council fails to pass 2026 budget

Borongan City — Hundreds of casual and temporary employees of the city government lost their jobs after the city council failed to pass the 2026 annual budget.

In a memorandum sent to all department heads on Friday, Acting Mayor Emmanuel Tiusonco ordered the termination of all job order employees effective at the close of business hours the same day.

Tiusonco said the city government is operating under a re-enacted budget after the proposed 2026 budget failed to secure council approval and remains under deliberation.

The termination followed the city council’s 4-3 vote denying Tiusonco’s request for authority to hire job order personnel to be charged against the re-enacted budget.

Under guidelines issued by the Department of Budget and Management, local government units operating under a re-enacted budget may hire casual or job order workers, provided they occupy positions that were already existing and funded in the previous year’s budget.

The guidelines, however, prohibit the creation of new casual positions until a new annual budget is approved.

The DBM also states that wages of casual employees must be charged to the “personnel services” component of the re-enacted budget, authority for which the Borongan City Council declined to grant Tiusonco.

The Office of the City Mayor, then headed by Mayor Jose Ivan Dayan Agda, submitted the proposed 2026 budget to the city council on 16 October 2025, before Agda stepped down to serve a 90-day suspension ordered by the Office of the Ombudsman. The council only began deliberations on the proposal on 23 December 2025.

Agda, whose suspension ends on 25 February, was found guilty of violating Republic Act 6713, the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials, based on a complaint filed in 2019.