2 City Hall workers ‘unaccounted’

CEBU, Philippines — Two of eight City Hall employees caught attending a protest rally organized by the camp of dismissed mayor Michael Rama are no longer reporting to work and have not answered the memorandum from the personnel department requiring them to explain their participation in the protest action during office hours.

Supporters of Rama staged a protest action on November 8 to denounce what they called a “power-grab” at City Hall by Mayor Raymond Garcia. It was also during the said activity that former city administrator Collin Rosell stormed City Hall to reclaim his post. He argued that the six months preventive suspension imposed by the Office of the Ombudsman against them had already lapsed. Rosell ended up in jail after he was arrested for usurpation of authority and other charges.

Human Resource Development Office (HRDO) head Henry P. Tomolabcad said there were at least 24 City Hall employees participated in the protest rally and eight of them are still active employees.

Due to multiple possible violations, Tomolabcad said they issued a notice to explain to these eight employees two weeks ago, giving them 72 hours to respond. However, as of yesterday (Sunday), Tomolabcad said two remained unaccounted for, and their notices were still unserved.

“Wala ma-receive personally kay wala ma-locate, so amo nalang gi-bilin sa admin officers kung asa sila na-assign, and naa mi gipa-registered mail,” Tomolabcad told The Freeman yesterday.

The six employees who responded have already been referred to the Cebu City Legal Office (CLO) for evaluation to determine if there is a need to file criminal and administrative charges against them.

According to Tomolabcad, these eight employees had various levels of involvement during the event. Some participated in the rally near the Senior Citizens Park in front of the legislative building.

One, he added, was involved in an argument when Rosell attempted to enter the office of the City Administrator, claiming his six-month preventive suspension had ended.

“Katong nag-syinagitay sila ba… naa tuy video, niapil to,” said Tomolabcad.

Others, according to Tomolabcad, were seen participating in the press conference inside the mayor’s conference room, while some acted as security for Rosell when he later signed a memorandum addressed to the Civil Security Unit (CSU).

According to Tomolabcad, most of the employees were former members of the executive department but were renewed under the Vice Mayor’s office in the legislative department.

“Bisan pa naa sila sa Sanggunian, still, usa ra man ang disciplining authority, no, ang mayor. Bisag Sanggunian pa na sila, it’s up to the city legal kung unsa ilang i-file,” said Tomolabcad.

Tomolabcad explained that the employees were summoned for different reasons, including abandonment of posts, loitering, and grave misconduct, all of which violate the ethical guidelines for government employees.

However, he clarified that they did not determine if the motivations for their actions were election-related or if they violated the mandate of non-partisanship, as the election campaign period has not yet begun.

Some of those who already submitted their explanations argued that they were unaware that such an activity was taking place around City Hall.

“Pero wala kuno sila kabalo nga mag-presscon didto, pero pag-abot nila nagtan-aw lang kuno sila, mga something like that ba, so makita man gud na sa mga lawyers kung reasonable ba ilang explanations,” said Tomolabcad.

“Naa say uban didto nga mga arogante kaayo og mga tubag, naa say mga ingon-ana, murag defensive kaayo sila,” he added.

He elaborated that while most of them did not deny their presence at the event, many denied the intent to join, claiming they were just in the area by coincidence. — (FREEMAN)