Cebu City's 'Mayor of the Night' to push through amid compressed workweek talks

Local

CEBU City’s planned “Mayor of the Night” program is set to be launched this month and will not follow the four-day workweek.

Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who is spearheading the initiative, said the program will proceed even as discussions continue on whether Cebu City Hall should adopt a four-day workweek.

In an interview, Osmeña said the concept of the “Mayor of the Night” is rooted in the realities faced by thousands of BPO employees who work according to United States time zones.

“CEOs do not work according to a four-day workweek. They are providing live service on time with US time. That’s why it’s in the middle of the night and we are here to support the employees who are working at that time,” Osmeña said.

He clarified that the program’s focus on nighttime services makes it impractical to align operations with a compressed four-day workweek schedule.

“We’re not interested in adjusting to make it a four-day workweek. We cannot because the purpose of our work is to help the 150,000 employees who are working in US time,” he said.

The “Mayor of the Night” initiative aims to make government services accessible during late hours for workers who cannot transact with agencies during the daytime due to their schedules.

Osmeña said the program will initially roll out gradually as the city tests its operations and identifies areas that need adjustments.

“What we are doing is something that has not been done before. There’s no model for us to copy,” he said. “We will start slowly and once it’s set up, we will keep adjusting.”

Under the plan, workers may access assistance or facilitation for various government transactions during nighttime hours. These may include services related to clearances, licensing, and documentation from agencies such as the National Bureau of Investigation, Land Transportation Office, and Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board, among others.

Osmeña said the goal is to reduce the need for workers to file leave from their jobs or sacrifice sleep just to process documents or settle official transactions.

“You come to us at night. That’s why we’re there,” he said. “Government should serve the people—not the other way around.”

Osmeña said the program is designed primarily with BPO workers in mind, citing the sector’s significant role in providing jobs and income to urban poor families.

According to him, starting salaries in the BPO industry are often double the minimum wage, with many employees eventually earning between P30,000 and P40,000 a month.

He noted that despite the relatively higher pay, the industry experiences high turnover rates, which he attributed partly to stress, irregular hours, and limited access to services outside daytime office hours.

“Many of them are the main breadwinners of their families. They cannot simply quit their jobs even if the work is stressful,” Osmeña said.

He added that the program is meant to ease some of the pressures faced by night-shift workers by ensuring that basic government and support services remain accessible after regular office hours.

Aside from facilitating government transactions, Osmeña said the city is exploring the possibility of offering other forms of support for night-shift employees, including medical consultations and community-based services.

He also said the city may eventually expand the program to other areas depending on demand.

“If the demand is strong enough, we’ll open another ‘Mayor of the Night’ in the south or downtown, wherever it’s needed,” he said.

The vice mayor said the initiative will initially run on a budget of about P5 million over two years, which he described as modest compared to the potential benefits for workers.

Meanwhile, Nestor Archival earlier said Cebu City Hall will maintain its Monday-to-Friday work schedule for now as the city government studies the possible impact of adopting a four-day workweek.

Archival said the city wants to ensure that any shift in work arrangements will not disrupt public services.

“We cannot decide right now… but we’re monitoring other areas on the outcome of this arrangement,” he told reporters on March 9.

Several local government units in Cebu, including Bantayan, Santa Fe, Santander, and Compostela, have already adopted a compressed four-day workweek following a directive from Malacañang Palace aimed at conserving fuel and energy amid concerns over global oil supply disruptions.(TGP)