The chief public safety officer of the city seeks to regularize the Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) as they are experiencing impediments, particularly in hiring staff members due to their employment status.
PSSCC chief Angel Sumagaysay revealed there has been a difficulty in maintaining their personnel’s employment security as they are only under job order or contractual employment.
Sumagaysay said that as PSSCC is under the special project of the City Mayor’s Office, they cannot easily hire more personnel.
“Due to our current structure, we cannot easily hire and employ more personnel,” he said. “Some of our personnel would rather resign as they are still under contracts and job orders. They tend to resign because they’re still not a regular employee for long now.”
He said that due to their employment status, these personnel could not able to attend schooling or related activities.
“If they are regular employee, they sure can be sent to attend training and seminars, so that when they come back in the office, they can apply what they’ve learned in our safekeeping and public security management,” he said.
Having a security of employment means being protected against possible fluctuations in earned income, Sumagaysay said.
He said PSSCC will be given massive advantage if their office will be regular or will be separate department. In this way, he said, they will be given additional budget to attain their mandates.
“PSSCC is the coordinating office center to orchestrate coordination from all the safety and security unit. We also serve as a special coordinating office whenever there are big events. We also covered many security units. That’s why it is important that we become a regular office, and right now we are on the move to regularized our office,” he said.
Units under the PSSCC include the Bantay Bukid, Civil Service Unit (CSU), Special Civilian Active Auxiliaries (SCAA), and the city-paid barangay tanods. He said that the number of these security personnel is around 4,000. The city has a population of 1.6 million.
At the City Council, Councilor Mabel Acosta is proposing an ordinance to institutionalize PSSCC.
Acosta said that since PSSCC is under CMO, they lack their own organizational budget.
She also aimed to establish a separate department for the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (CDRRMO) and Central 911, as they have the same struggle as PSSCC.
