TERMINATED.
This was the fate of Provincial Planning and Development Office (PPDO) head Ma. Lina Sanogal after she did not report for work anymore, Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator lawyer Rayfrando Diaz II confirmed Wednesday, May 25, 2022.
In a memorandum to Sanogal dated May 13, 2022, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson stated that she has not reported for work since March 18, 2022 without an approved leave of absence and with no official communication as to her whereabouts despite numerous attempts to contact her.
Lacson, in his letter to Sanogal, said that the latter has now been officially dropped from the roster of provincial government employees in accordance with the Civil Service Commission (CSC) Memorandum Circular No. 13, Series of 2007.
The circular states that an official or an employee who is continuously absent without an approved leave for at least 30 working days shall be considered on absence without official leave (Awol) and shall be separated from the service or dropped from the rolls without prior notice.
The CSC stated that dropping from the roll is non-disciplinary in nature, executory but appealable within 15 days from the receipt of the order or notice.
"She refused (to report) despite several reminders so we got no other recourse but to drop her from the rolls," Diaz said, adding that Sanogal had only few leave credits and she has not yet processed her clearances for her retirement.
Sanogal, who is due to retire in October this year, filed complaints against Lacson and Diaz before the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for alleged violation of the Omnibus Election Code.
She also lodged a complaint for Constructive Dismissal before the CSC and Grave Abuse of Authority for transferring her at the Office of the Governor from the PPDO.
When asked for comment, Sanogal said this is just but “another proof of the oppression and grave abuse of authority of the ones in power at the Capitol.”
“I look at it (her reassignment) as constructive dismissal, so I opted not to report to work anymore,” Sanogal explained, as she stressed that her transfer was unjustifiable.
She lamented that while she has not retired yet, the provincial government already put someone in her place.
“They assigned me to attend to administrative concerns when my current position is already technical/managerial in nature,” she said.
The former PPDO head also wondered why she was asked to directly report to Diaz, who is her fellow department head, while other employees or officials who have been suspended before were reassigned directly under the governor as their supervisor.
“The CSC has already treated my affidavit as an appeal from the reassignment order (and) I understand that it will take two to three years,” she said.
Sanogal admitted that she told her staff not to include her name in the payroll anymore because she will no longer report to work.
“Although I was not demoted in terms of salary but in terms of position, which made me feel demean,” she added.