Terminated teachers file complaint vs. former employer before DepEd

CEBU, Philippines - Five former teachers of Queenship of Mary School located in Lower Calajoan, Minglanilla, Cebu have filed a complaint against the school before the Department of Education alleging that the school has been operating without permit.

In their complaint, Glynda Empleo, Marivic Derama, Derse May Canada, Rossvel Sumabal and Jenifer Aguirre also accused the school owner of alleged “illegal, oppressive and high-handed ways” in running the school.

The complainants told DepEd they were terminated allegedly without just cause and were merely caught in between a fight between the school’s owner Ramon Larrobis and the school’s temporary administrator Nestor Castro.

They said they were replaced with fresh graduates that allegedly do not have license to teach.

They also accused Larrobis of allegedly depositing the school’s funds into his personal account.

The complainants told DepEd Regional Director Recaredo Borgonia of their fear that the school might use their credentials in applying for a permit to operate.

In an interview with The Freeman, Larrobis admitted that his school has no permit to operate yet but said they are already in the process of acquiring one.

Larrobis explained that when the school opened last year, it only offered pre-elementary classes from Nursery 1 to Kinder II, which reportedly does not require any permit from DepEd.

He said it was only when the school decided to offer classes from grade one to grade three this year that they also processed their application for a permit to operate.

The said school has 71 pupils.

Meanwhile, Larrobis, who is also a barangay councilman of Calajoan, denied that the complainants were unjustly terminated. He said they were kicked out of the school due to insubordination because they reportedly chose to follow Castro’s orders rather than his.

Larrobis also said he sees nothing wrong in depositing the school’s funds into his account because he owns the school.

 He, nevertheless, admitted that his newly-hired teachers are fresh graduates who are yet to take the licensure examination for teachers this September. - Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/JMO (THE FREEMAN)