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Tuesday, August 02, 2005
Corrupt contractual workers have to go: mayor
By Ben O. Tesiorna
CONTRACTUAL employees who were reassigned to stations where they cannot easily go on accepting grease money from the public but later seen to have continued engaging in irregularities will have to go, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte said Monday.
"I will assess again. If there is a reason for them to stay then I will allow them to stay. If there's none then they have to go," Duterte said, referring to the 62 contractual workers affected by the overhaul at the business bureau and the local civil registrar's office.
He earlier said his decision to "overhaul" the two offices was due to complaints of several businessmen.
"I am invoking public interest here. Matagal ko nang gusto ireporma yan kaya lang I don't have the luxury of scrutinizing everybody. I can't do it by piecemeal kaya lahat na lang sila tinanggal ko sa office. We need the investors more than anything," Duterte said.
He said the 71 plantilla employees affected by the revamp will either be on floating status or transferred to another department where they could not easily do any anomaly.
The mayor identified the two offices as the most corrupt among all the offices in City Hall.
In his weekly television program Sunday, Duterte called his revamp decision the "Friday massacre."
Although he did not accuse the former heads of the two offices of being involved in corruption, Duterte said he found it fit to replace them in accordance with the "command responsibility" rule.
"I feel na dili nila kontrolado ang ilang mga tao (that they couldn't control their subordinates)," Duterte said.
Erwin Alparaque of the Business Bureau and Judith Lee of the Local Civil Registrar were replaced by lawyers Jhopee Avanceña-Agustin and Edelito Domingo, respectively.
There are a total of 71 plantilla and 62 contractual employees affected by the revamp of the two offices.
The mayor said they have a ready replacement for those who were booted out and those who will take over, as of Sunday, are undergoing seminar.
Asked if the replacement is enough assurance that corruption in the two offices would finally stop, Duterte admitted it is not a 100 percent guarantee but added he will not hesitate to do a weekly revamp if needed.
"I will not hesitate to revamp that offices every week until I get someone who could do it right," Duterte said.
The mayor said most victims of corruption in the two offices are the businessmen.
But even as he recognized the complaints of businessmen about corruption, he likewise appealed to the traders to refrain from taking shortcuts and giving money to corrupt government employees.
For the City Hall employees who will not stop with their corrupt practices, Duterte warned severe repercussions.
"For those who are hopelessly corrupt, patyon na lang nato (we will just kill them)," he said.
For Bisaya stories from Davao. Click here. (August 2, 2005 issue)
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