Herbie Gomez IN light of the revelations of Vice Mayor Raineir Joaquin Uy and Councilor Lordan Suan about how some members of the city council have turned the city’s legislature into the biggest job provider for their relatives in the city, the lawmaking body may want to seriously consider putting in place measures to make sure this practice doesn’t get abused. Or better still, ban the practice for good. While there is some logic in the assertion of some councilors that there are certain tasks and responsibilities in their offices that can only be entrusted to people they’re fully confident with, something is not right when entire families are turned into “job orders.” That is bringing nepotism, as defined in the dictionary, to an entirely different level. The “job order”system that allows anyone to get contracted by a local government for services for a period that doesn’t exceed six months has been used to circumvent civil service rules. Under this system, the work of “job orders” are not seen as government service. Since they are not considered government employees and there is no employee-employer relationship between them and local governments, civil service laws, rules and regulations don’t apply to them. And so, it is debatable if the government rule on nepotism (not the dictionary definition but the legal definition) applies to the hiring or contracting of “job orders.” But anyone who can tell what’s right and wrong would find it disturbing when politicians use their power and influence to surround themselves with “job order” staff members who are their relatives. One close relative in the staff is already eyebrowaising but an entire family in the pool of “job orders” is simply bloodcurdling. I raise a question not on Councilor Suan’s knowledge of the law but on his ability to use a moral compass, if ever he has one. As shown in the list, his recommendees for “job orders” were his rich father, mother, siblings, uncles, an aunt, and the father of his girlfriend(?). So, he tells us that before he submitted his list of recommendees, he consulted senior members of the city council, and they supposedly told him it was OK for him to ask that his family members be turned into “job orders.” Seriously, Mr. Councilor. You really had to ask others if it was OK? I find it really disturbing that there is at least one member of the city council who makes himself appear like he has no ability to judge what is right and wrong and act accordingly without the aid of his seniors. More disturbing is his excuse for doing what he did which, in effect, went like this: It’s OK because everyone’s doing it. There you go--an admission. But I’m curious to find out what happens if and when everyone around him starts stealing. Would he be consulting the senior thieves? Technically and legally, it looks like he’s off the hook because what he wanted to happen was never consummated given than Vice Mayor Uy rejected his list. But what if Uy approved his request? Question is, why did he recommend his father, mother, siblings, uncles, aunt, and girlfriend’s father(?) in the first place? Like a suicide bomber, he dropped a bombshell in the city council in response to the vice mayor’s damning revelations. Everyone’s wounded across party lines. Everyone in the city council, past and present, has been hit by Suan’s shrapnels. It looks like the Suan case is just the tip of the iceberg and now, we are hearing admissions and more justifications. The problem with the “job order” system is it’s subject to abuse. Contract the services of one relative now and tomorrow, you’d be contracting everyone in the clan. Councilors Reuben Daba and Ma. Lourdes Gaane are busy looking for things to ban like vapes, and liquor on Sundays. They may want to stop looking outside the city council, and start with the “job order” system. Ban the practice, and save this city some money that can be used to address pressing needs. How’s that? As we are seeing now, this crooked “job order” system is starting to make some politicians in the city speak fluent moron. Pastilan.