IT'S about time that President Rodrigo Duterte stops the practice or the system in government service wherein those who commit fraud or breach ethical conduct are either promoted or transferred to another assignment.
Take the case of the ex-warden of the Cebu City Jail, Supt. Johnson Calub of the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP). Instead of being investigated for his apparent lapses in managing the city jail, Calub was promoted assistant regional director of BJMP. Not funny, right?
Saturday dawn, a joint team of the police and the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA), in surprise raid on the city jail, uncovered 106.4 grams of shabu and P4.6 million cash. The cash was found in one of the cells.
Sometime last month, police officers in Region 7 were transferred to other regions allegedly because they have done nothing in their areas of responsibility to stop or mitigate the proliferation of the illegal drugs, that is, shabu.
While BJMP 7 Director Allan Iral ordered the relief of 28 senior jail officers, Calub was named assistant regional in place of Supt. Jessie Calumpang. Calumpang was named the city jail warden replacing Calub.
Does Calub deserve the promotion while the rest of the jail officers were relieved? Calub is as liable as the other jail officers for the fiasco. Calub was a big failure. He should be investigated and not promoted.
During his watch, Calub allowed the setting up of “private rooms” inside the jail, gave special treatment to some (prominent?) inmates, failed to limit the number of visitors and did not conduct surprise inspections. With these facts, isn’t Calub a “collaborator”?
Whatever measures Calumpang will implement when he assumes as the new city jail warden, it will only be a continuation of the standard operating procedures in all the jails that Calub should have imposed as the city jail warden.
Perhaps, as a new policy or however it’s called, those in the government or civil service who may have violated standard ethical rules or for any violation shall face investigations and sanctions instead of getting a promotion.
The promotion or transfer of appointed public servants following their blunders is like rewarding them for their mismanagement or misjudgment or for, in other words, having been “palpak.”
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Perhaps this is a first in Cebu and probably in the entire nation wherein the governor is also the provincial jail warden. But, of course, a governor oversees everything that is Capitol’s.
Gov. Junjun Davide will assume the responsibility of a provincial jail warden after the acting warden of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center (CPDRC), Romeo Manansala, handed in his resignation that will take effect tomorrow.
Earlier, Marco Toral resigned as the governor’s consultant for CPDRC after a detention prisoner escaped. There were other issues though (that I cannot state here) against Toral that somehow forced him to resign.
I don’t think letting the BJMP manage the CPDRC would make any difference. The city jail example is something that Governor Davide should be wary of. It’s putting the right people to manage CPDRC that could make the difference.
So, how do we address Governor Davide? Mr. Warden when he is at the CPDRC and Mr. Governor all the time wherever he is. Good luck Mr. Warden Governor!
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The Cebu News Workers Cooperative, the only media cooperative in the country, will join forces with the Cebu CFI Community Cooperative in filing a petition in court for a declaratory relief if the Credit Information System Act (CISA) will be implemented.
The CFI Cooperative had taken the led through its Chairman Pabling Garcia, a former Cebu governor and congressman, to question CISA. This law will seek, collect and process information of borrowers from banks, quasi-banks, credit card companies and cooperatives.
This law is unconstitutional because it violates the Bill of Rights and the later law on Data Privacy Act of 2012. Worse, CIS Act can impose a fine of P30,000 to any entity that fails to submit the information they require.
This CISA, enacted on Oct. 31, 2008, can not apply to cooperatives because the Philippine Cooperative Code (RA 9520) was passed and approved on Feb. 17, 2009, hence, a later law. Under RA 9520, a cooperative is autonomous.