For ‘using’ position for businesses: Ex-employee sues Mabatid

CEBU, Philippines — A former employee of  Cebu City Councilor Prisca Niña Mabatid has sued the official before the Office of the Ombudsman for allegedly making her staff at the council work on her private business.

"The local government is trying its best to curb the spread of COVID-19 by requiring its employees to stay at home and only leave their homes just when absolutely necessary. Councilor Mabatid, on the other hand, has made it obligatory from her staff, under the Cebu City Hall payroll, to go around the city and office of Cebu in order for her chicken and meat business to profit," reads the complaint filed by Roldan De Los Reyes before the Office of the Ombudsman.

Mabatid is reportedly engaged in selling and distributing dressed chicken and other kinds of meat.

"With strong determination and conviction that Councilor Mabatid committed an act of taking advantage of her position by directing us to sell chickens and other meat products, I refused to do the task assigned to me anymore, to which Councilor Mabatid got angry and she threatened us not to renew our appointment and also demanded us to resign," De los Reyes said.

De Los Reyes sued Mabatid for Dishonesty and Gross Negligence in the Performance of her Duties, and for alleged violation of the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public Officials and Employees and the Anti-Graft and Corruption Practices Act.

"Councilor Mabatid uses her position to pave way to the perpetuation of a series of illegal acts for her personal financial interest and advantage disregarding existing government rules and regulations laid down by the Civil Service Commission (CSC)," the complaint reads.

Aside from the meat business, Mabatid is also reportedly engaged in the sale of butane and face shields for which she allegedly employed workers of the city government in her marketing arm to deal with customers.

De los Reyes said that because he refused to follow the councilor's orders to work in her business, Mabatid reportedly issued a memorandum addressed to the HRDO dated May 28, 2020, requesting for his termination for "lack of trust and confidence."

De los Reyes alleged that he was not given his pay despite him not having been issued a formal Notice of Termination.

"The Human Resource Department of Cebu City Hall through the influence of Councilor Mabatid denied me of my salary on the ground that my services as one of the staff of the latter has been terminated without due notification. I have not received any Notice of Termination but in spite of such absence I was willfully and tyrannically deprived of what is due to me legally and morally," he complaint reads.

Mabatid confirmed that De los Reyes was terminated but denied the allegations in his complaint.

She said she donated, not sold, the chicken as part of her livelihood program to help the poor during the crisis. The face shields were also reportedly distributed for free and the supposed butane business has not even materialized just yet.

"I fired him for loss of trust and confidence. Tapulan ug mo kwenta ug oras and alcoholic unlikely to be a government employee. Nanghatag ko og manok ug karne sa mga barangays para pang livelihood program, dili para sa akong kaugalingon. It's good I fired him kay kani iyang gibuhat karon proved nga wa gyud siyay ayo nga pagkatao. Wa nay modawat ani niya as employee. Sigurado ko ana," Mabatid said in a text message.

(I fired him for loss of trust and confidence. He’s lazy, counts the hours, and an alcoholic, which are unlikely traits of a government employee. I gave out chicken and meat to the barangays as part of the livelihood program, not for myself. It’s good I fired him because what he’s doing now proves that he is not a good person. No one will hire him now, I’m sure of that.) — JMO (FREEMAN)