CLARK FREEPORT - Officials of two workers' unions of the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) debunked reports that top CDC executives have asked for their endorsements to extend their terms in the state-owned firm.
Officials of the Association of CDC Supervisory Personnel (ACSP) and the Association of Concerned CDC Employees (Acces) denied that top CDC executives have sought their union favorable endorsements to MalacaƱang for the retention of current CDC management officials.
ACSP president Victor Barbieto said CDC president Benigno Ricafort did not ask for any endorsement from their organization.
"Mr. Ricafort never asked the union for any endorsements to extend the terms of the present CDC executives," Barbieto said.
Barbieto added: "In fairness to president Ricafort, we never received any request from his office or from any officer for any endorsement."
He also underscored that union members will not allow anybody to use their organization for any political or personal gain.
"Should there be a request from any key official from CDC, the union will not entertain this," Barbieto said.
At the same time, members of the CDC middle management, who are not co-terminus with the Arroyo administration, denied being granted salary increases by Ricafort.
"There was no pay increase amounting to P1,700 to assistant managers (as reported) and there were no feelers for Mr. Ricafort to get our endorsement. There was not even any attempt to talk to us. CDC officers have always maintained a level of decency and professionalism," Noel Tulabut, member of the Executive Board of the Association of Career Executives (ACE) in CDC said.
rThe ACE-CDC is an association of 31 assistant managers duly-registered with the Department of Labor and Employment (Dole), Tulabut added.
Acces president Carlos Cabrera branded the report as baseless, malicious, and fictitious.
"This malicious allegation is baseless and out of the blue and a product of someone's wild imagination," Cabrera said in a statement.
"The Acces has recently signed a new five-year life of Collective Bargaining Agreement with the management of CDC...was a product of a series of negotiations in good faith," Cabrera added. (NGT/with report from Reynaldo G. Navales)