Justice MIA at the MIAA

Justice is missing in action (MIA) at the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), operator of the MIA (Manila International Airport).

Justice, as we often understand or know it, is fairness, that no harm is done to anyone. If harm is done, its perpetrator must receive commensurate punishment, as justice demands.

In the case of “Anonymous MIA Officials vs. Cesar Chiong and Irene Montalbo,” GM and acting AGM, respectively, of the Manila International Airport Authority, justice was clearly missing in action.

The case was filed on April 28, 2023, before the Office of the Ombudsman. The charge was “grave abuse of authority, grave misconduct and conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service.” Chiong and Montalbo reassigned 285 MIAA personnel, from July 22, 2022 to early April 2023. The two were not accused stealing or malversing taxpayers’ money.

The cases of four employees were cited as proof. A male electrical engineer became acting manager of the Airport Police Department. Note: A college dropout became president of the Philippines.

A woman employee was moved from Property Management to Cashiering. Note: Is cash not a form of property or asset?

Another woman employee was transferred from Business and Real Estate Investment Development Division to Systems and Procedures Improvement Division. Note: The Philippines has been asked repeatedly to improve its Ease of Doing Business procedures so it can improve investment.

The fourth case is that of the female who was moved – laterally – from AGM for Finance and Administration, with 200 people, to AGM for Airport Development and Corporate Affairs, with just 50 people under her.

Note: The chief of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, which has the rank of a bureau director, has 150,000 men under him. The secretary of national defense, a Cabinet position and who cannot command the troops under the AFP chief, has far fewer men, 1,000 at best, probably. The National Security Adviser, another Cabinet position, has just 121 men.

Of the so-called 285 reassignments, 201 involved airport police or security people moved from one assignment to another, per recommendation of their chief. You call that grave abuse? Wow naman, Mr. Ombudsman.

Minutes after the case was filed on the same day, April 28, 2023, the Ombudsman, Samuel R. Martires, suspended Chiong and Montalbo, as GM, and OIC, AGM Finance and Administration, respectively, of the Manila International Airport Authority (MIAA), without pay, for a period not exceeding six months.

It is normal for cases before the ombudsman to last as long as 60 months, or five years.

The Chiong-Montalbo case was decided in just 60 working days, or two months. The two were dismissed from the service. They cannot receive retirement benefits. They cannot again have any government position. Wow naman, Mr. Ombudsman.

A number of businessmen and tycoons (they will remain anonymous at the moment, since we are in the anonymous game) have denounced the ombudsman ruling. Their grounds:

1. The suspension of Mr. Chiong and Ms. Montalbo on April 28, 2023 and later dismissal from the service on Aug. 1, 2023, just about 60 working days, were both accompanied with unseemly, if not premeditated, haste, thus making a mockery of due process. It is denial of justice and is a biased conduct. This is one of the fastest ombudsman cases decided on record.

More than 12,000 cases are pending before the ombudsman; 80 percent are more than five years old; another 20 percent have been pending since the ombudsman’s founding. By 2019, under Ombudsman Samuel Martires, conviction rate was averaging just 56 percent.

“This speedy treatment is in stark contrast to the snail’s pace at which other recent multi-billion, high-profile graft and corruption cases,” said one business group. What has the ombudsman done about the multi-billion Pharmally graft case of 2021?

2. The Chiong decision is a blow to justice, a blow to the economy, a blow to good governance and a blow to all that is good and just in the values of our people.

3. Mr. Chiong and Ms Montalbo were never accused of corruption or graft.

4. The so-called “reassignments” involved mostly police and security personnel – 201 out of 285 or 70 percent, and were pursuant to the security requirements in the four NAIA terminals and were all recommended by the Airport Police Department chief and assistant general manager (AGM) for Security and Emergency Services. Nobody was fired.

5. Hiring, reassigning, and firing personnel are clearly management prerogatives inherent in the mandate for effective, efficient and honest governance, especially in an agency running a facility often derided as one of the worst airports, if not the worst airport, in the world.

6. The respondents, in fact, had been excellent managers at the time they were wrongly, falsely and unfairly accused.

From July 2022 to April 2023, MIAA finances improved tremendously. Long-pending receivables were collected. The cash balance went from negative into a huge surplus of P15 billion. Losses, totaling P3.6 billion in 2020 and 2021, turned into huge profits, P1.9 billion by end-2022. MIAA became debt-free, a rare occurrence.

“These are remarkable accomplishments that should have merited a promotion or, at the very least, a commendation for a job well done,” said another business group.

7. About 800 airport personnel have rallied behind Chiong and Montalbo. They signed a manifesto, stressing, “only now have they experienced transparent and honest management in the agency.”

8. Chiong, in his petition with the Court of Appeals, questioned the jurisdiction of the ombudsman. Anonymous complainants must first exhaust administrative remedies, then go to the Civil Service Commission for relief, instead of going to the ombudsman.

9. Chiong gave up a lucrative career in the private sector to serve at MIAA upon the invitation of DOTr chief Jaime Bautista.

After what happened to Chiong and Montalbo, who would want to serve in government?

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