Conflict brews at a Marcos-created agency in Pasig; boss accused of junketeering, employees blamed for work disruption

December 18, 2017 - 10:50 AM
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File photos of DAP president and CEO Elba Siscar Cruz and the DAP building in Pasig City from the website of the Development Academy of the Philippines

MANILA, Philippines — All’s not well at a government agency in Pasig City established 44 years ago, just months after then President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law.

At loggerheads are the employees of the Development Academy of the Philippines and Elba Siscar Cruz, who, as president and chief executive officer, is at the helm of the DAP, an agency under the Office of the President, tasked to train and capacitate members of the bureaucracy.

But just nine months into office, Cruz, who last April urged DAP personnel to “work together and not away from each other,” is apparently not getting what she expects from her employees.

DAP head accused of junketeering, gagging critics, unprofessionalism

Instead of wanting to work with their boss, many of them want to get rid of Cruz, whom they accuse of alleged junketeering, gagging her critics, and lacking management and leadership skills expected of a leader, whose primary task is to restore “the faith and trust of citizens in their government” as mentioned by President Rodrigo Duterte in his July 2017 State of the Nation Address.

Leading the opposition to her supervision of the agency is Gerald Yap Cruz, head of the DAP Personnel Association, which detailed the following allegations against Elba Cruz:

1. Carrying out since she took over in April 2017 several unauthorized restructuring and creation of offices at the DAP, resulting in additional costs and displacement of permanent Civil Service Commission (CSC) appointees.

2. Grossly and deliberately violating CSC rules by designating non-plantilla personnel to supervise plantilla personnel, arbitrary and forced personnel movements tantamount to constructive dismissal, and appointment of personnel lacking in qualifications as set by the CSC.

3. Continuing threats to remove employees and personnel. She is allegedly using these threats to silence anyone who dares to question her policies and actions.

The closure of the DAP cafeteria under Cruz’s watch also looms with the plan to replace this with expensive concessionaires to the detriment of the DAP’s personnel who have been depending on the canteen for affordable meals. About 100 cafeteria personnel and their families would be affected.

4. Going on travels abroad monthly and thus depriving DAP of executive and official time to physically manage the Academy. And worse, incurring unnecessary travel expenses that must have exceeded financial limitations given their frequency.

5. Lacking the knowledge, the temperament, and the behavior necessary to lead any organization or government institution. She acts arbitrarily and whimsically, totally disregarding logic and reason at times and, more importantly, completely ignoring long-existing civil service rules in blatant violation of existing government rules and regulations.

Employees accused of disrupting public services

Following the employees’ complaints against their boss, the DAP head issued a memo ordering Gerald Yap Cruz to explain why an action should not be taken against him.

In her memo, a copy of which was furnished by Gerald Cruz to InterAksyon, Elba Cruz accused the head of the association and the employees of violating CSC rules by holding “strikes, unauthorized mass leaves, and other forms of mass actions by civil servants which disrupt public services.”

Also, the memo said Gerald Cruz contacted the media and “enticed” DAP employees to participate in actions to “malign” and put Elba Cruz “to shame”, using “unfounded” allegations “of corruption and oppression.”

“Further, you continue to blacken the reputation of the President (Cruz), resulting in damage to the institution,” the memo said.

Gerald Cruz was also accused of violating the constitution of the employees’ association by allegedly not using dialogue and “peaceful means” to resolve the issues.

He was asked to submit within five days a written reply as to why he should not be meted the penalties for violating Section 50, Rule 10 of the 2017 Revised Rules on Administrative Cases in the Civil Service, which refers to gross neglect of duty and grave misconduct.

DAP Vice President for Marketing, Branding and Promotions Leodegario Manio, representing Elba Cruz, confirmed with InterAksyon that a show cause order was issued to Gerald Cruz by the DAP head.

For his part, Gerald Cruz defended the employees’ protest against their boss and said this did not cause work disruption.

“‘Yong freedom of expression ay hindi nawawala kahit pumasok ka sa gobyerno. Nagkakaroon lamang ng limitasyon, kaya ‘yong press conference namin, lunch time namin ginawa, ‘yong activity namin kagabi na nag-candle lighting kami, after office namin ginawa,” Gerald Cruz told InterAksyon in a phone interview last Friday, December 15.

[Freedom of expression does not fade once you enter government. It just has limitations, which is why we held our press conference during lunch time, and our candle-lighting activity last night was done after office hours.]

Gerald Cruz alleged that Elba Cruz failed to communicate with DAP employees and address the problems in the institution because she was always out of the country.

Imbis na intindihin niya or bigyan niya ng time to understand the organization, tapos ‘yong tao, most of the time nasa ibang bansa siya. So nawawalan siya ng time to manage DAP and to get to know the people,” he said.

[Instead of trying to understand or spending time to understand the organization and the people, most of the time, she’s abroad. So she loses time to manage DAP and to get to know the people.]

He also accused her of allegedly having a poor attitude. “‘Yong pakikipag-usap niya sa tao, nagmumura, gano’n [The way she talks to people, she cusses].”

Elba Cruz’s defense

Meanwhile, Manio e-mailed to InterAksyon DAP’s official reply to the accusations against Elba Cruz, which included her resumé, stating that she is “a multi-disciplinary professional in project development, human and asset resource management, (and) legal education and practice.”

Her bio-data also stated that she was secretary general and regional legal officer for Duterte’s PDP-Laban Party in Region 4-A during the 2016 campaign, a “high ranking Army Reserve officer,” and an environmentalist.

Here are DAP’s answers to the accusations against Elba Cruz:

1. This is not the first time that the management of DAP attempted to reorganize the structure of the Academy. Restructuring was not done overnight or merely to serve the whims of Atty. Cruz. A study has been conducted to look into this matter. This matter has already been presented to the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Academy during the last board meeting held on 28 September 2017, and the BOT agreed to refer the matter to the Board’s Execom for further discussion.

2. Personnel movements as well as issuance of designations are well within the powers of the President of the Academy. There are still employees that had been issued transfer orders but remain in their previous assignments because of observance of procedures. Efforts had been undertaken to remedy whatever mistakes that may have been committed during the period of transition. In fact, the nominees submitted by the DAPPER had been included in the reconstituted Promotion and Selection Board issued through a special order of Atty. Cruz.

3. There are non-plantilla personnel who will be recommended for conversion to permanent positions as well as those that will be promoted based on merit once an ongoing evaluation is completed. As for contractors, any time when their services or contract period ends, it is the prerogative of the Head of the agency whether to re-hire them or not.

Her “mostly” work-related travels were also detailed, and it was stressed that there were no “unnecessary travel expenses incurred, as most of these were sponsored.”

— April 2017 trip to Iran: Paid for by Asian Productivity Organization (APO) a regional intergovernmental organization comprised of 20 economies, where Atty. Cruz served as plenary chairman.

— May 2017, trip to Russia and Hungary: Paid for by DAP where two memoranda of understanding were signed with Admiral Makarov State University of Maritime and Inland Shipping and with MGIMO University.

— July 2017, trip to Japan: Paid for by APO, where DAP was awarded 13 projects for 2018 instead of the usual six.

— July 23, 2017 to Aug 6, 2017, personal travel set before Atty. Cruz was elected as DAP President.

— Aug 6 to 15, 2017, trip to the United States: Paid for by DAP, where Atty. Cruz had six major meetings and was a speaker in George Washington University.

— September 2017, trip to Vladivostok, Russia: Paid for by MGIMO, where Atty. Cruz served as conference speaker together.

— October 2017, trip to Korea: Paid for by APO, where Atty. Cruz acted as strategic planning chairman.

— October 2017, trip to Moscow: Paid for by DAP, resulting in four new MOUs signed; she was also a speaker in an international conference.

— November 2017, trip to Netherlands and Germany: Paid for by the Office of the Senate President, as part of the Lakbay Aral of the League of Vice Governors of the Philippines in partnership with DAP.