THE Department of Education (DepEd)-Panabo City is going to investigate its newly promoted official who threatened to stab a delivery courier after receiving a "scammed" parcel.
On Monday, October 25, a video, originally posted at Tagumeño Disiplinado 2.0, circulated online showing a delivery rider being threatened with scissors by the husband of a customer after receiving a parcel containing items they claim they did not order.
Netizens were able to track the identity of the person threatening the rider. Netizens said the person is a principal of a public school in Panabo City, Davao del Norte.
DepEd-Panabo Spokesperson Raul Gacus confirmed to SunStar Davao in a phone interview that the person in the viral video is one of their personnel. But the principal was recently appointed as supervisor of the DepEd Panabo City Division.
Gacus said they will conduct an investigation on the incident.
Based on the initial investigation, the involved personnel disclosed that there was already a settlement between two parties right after the incident.
The spokesperson, however, said a memorandum was already issued ordering the supervisor to explain his side of the incident.
"Actually, there was no intention to commit that conduct of unbecoming, as per course of the initial investigation. By tomorrow (October 27), we will continue our investigation to reach out, to conduct the investigation for us to submit the final result to the legal unit," Gacus said.
He added that they will decide on what administrative sanction might be filed against the supervisor, depending on the result of the investigation.
Meanwhile, he reminded all teaching and non-teaching personnel to observe maximum tolerance and stay calm in any situation.
"This is an eye-opener to all teachers that when it comes to situations like this, treat it very cool and deal with it in a proper way. Even if naa sila sa ilang panimalay (they are only within their residences), they bring the name of the office," Gacus said.
"Since they are in the academe, they must promote social communication and social dealing in public. They must not result to the highest utmost of their anger," Gacus added.
Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)-Davao Director Maria Belenda Ambi, meanwhile, said in a separate phone interview that it is not the responsibility of the rider to know if the item being sent to them is what they ordered or not.
"Mali gyud tong gihimo sa principal. Actually, dili man responsible ang delivery boy because ang role ra gyud nya is i-deliver ang (The principal was wrong in the situation. Actually, it is not the responsibility of the delivery boy because his role was only to deliver the) item and get the payment," Ambi said.
She added that the customer should have reached out to the supplier or marketer, and not the delivery service provider, since they are only a third party service.
The DTI official, meanwhile, reminded customers to be wary of the items they buy online and to only buy items in legitimate online platforms and shops.
She also urged them to check the review on the items they are about to buy to guide them in their purchasing decision.
In case they will encounter a scammed delivery of the package, the customers can file a consumer complaint to DTI to warn or call the attention of the online shopping platform, especially when the online seller is not responding.