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Saturday, December 10, 2005
Tomas to cut part of incentive pay ‘if fireman really stole the money’
Good news and bad news for the Cebu City Fire Department.
All of its personnel stand to lose a portion of the P1,000 incentive each receives from City Hall if indeed a fireman took things from the house of one of the victims of last Thursday’s fire in Barangay Quiot.
But after making this threat yesterday, Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he will give each a sack of rice because the fire department is the “best performing department.”
He did not elaborate, though.
The mayor said he will “take a closer look” into the allegation and take back part of the incentives “when it’s reasonably assured he (fireman) really stole the money.”
“I want that everybody would feel that sense of responsibility towards each other,” he said.
Timothy John Galleto, 22, alleged a fireman took the P2,500 he placed on a pillow on top of his bed when they got inside his room to put out the flames.
The money, he said, was supposedly intended to pay the credit card balance of his uncle.
He said he was trying to save what he could and had no time to confront the fireman, whom he said he could identify if presented to him.
But Galleto failed to show up yesterday to make a formal complaint, prompting Fire Marshal Ismael Codilla to challenge him and make good his pronouncements that he will really sue the fireman.
Else, Codilla said, his office will be constrained to pursue legal actions against Galleto for casting aspersion and maligning the integrity of fire department.
Codilla said the fireman denied taking the money from the room, which was burned down.
In an interview, he instead revealed that another fireman overheard house owner Bersedes Berdon, Galleto’s uncle, berating another nephew of stealing from him.
“He said somebody was punched. The person might have been a nephew because he called the other person uncle. The uncle was heard lamenting that instead of being helped, he was robbed,” Codilla said, quoting what FO1 Roger Dabalos told him.
Codilla said Galleto ought to file the complaint, if he was sure of what he saw. If his allegation was baseless, he added, Galleto must “rectify it” since the fire department’s reputation is on the line.
He added that on his end, he is investigating the cause of the fire, and will ultimately include Galleto’s allegation.
His office will look into the administrative aspect of the allegation. Galleto has to file a criminal complaint at the City prosecutor’s office. (RHM)
(December 10, 2005 issue)
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