CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Pampanga Gov. Eddie Panlilio on Monday terminated the services of 40 employees assigned in the provincial government’s quarry special committee as they resumed their picket at the capitol grounds here over alleged unfulfilled agreements reached in July.
Eduardo Gonzales, the leader of the protesting workers, said they have been informed of the governor’s pronouncement but have yet to receive a copy of a formal notice to be handed by the human resource chief.
Even if the notice came, Gonzales said the protest would continue and demand for the resignation of provincial administrator Vivian Dabu who prepared a July 18 letter that terminated the services of at least 71 employees who joined the first picket on July 10 to 13.
This, Gonzales said, violated their agreement during the July 14 negotiation brokered by civil society groups that the protesting workers would be “reinstated unconditionally.” The first protest opposed the reorganization of the committee following reports of incidents of illegal quarry operations that the supervisors allegedly failed to stop. The other cause, they said, was the “rude manner” by which Dabu dealt with them.
Panlilio said he had cancelled the termination order to keep up with the agreement and subsequently reinstated all of them even as they were casuals.
The contract, however, lasted until August 31 and renewable monthly due to budgetary constraints. This happened as the provincial board has yet to approve a supplemental budget for their additional compensation and the committee’s operations, he said.
Panlilio said he has been using the budget of the governor’s office since January to support the committee’s operations, which the provincial board did not fund.
Gonzales said the monthly contract does not ensure that they would get their Christmas bonus
The governor said civil service rules entitle casual employees with four months of continuous service to get Christmas bonus.
Explaining his decision to retrench the 40 protesters, Panlilio said: “In resuming the picket, they broke our agreement that we would hold a series of negotiations until we resolve our issues. The protest is also in violation of civil service’s rules but we exercised tolerance in the first instance. We are professionalizing the service and I have to keep the rule of law.”
He said he asked the leaders to dialogue with him on Sunday but they did not heed his request.
In their statement, the quarry workers professed “belief and trust” in Panlilio but scored Dabu for being “deaf and insensitive to their demands.” She said she was merely doing her job.
Some 150 employees in the committee as well as several senior employees felt that Panlilio was giving “too much leeway to the protesters when they have in fact abandoned their duties,” the governor said.
“We have a regulatory system (over the quarry industry) that needs to keep going to be able to collect taxes for government services,” he said to explain the thrust to normalize the operations on Monday.
Panlilio also deployed policemen to the quarry checkpoints to assist the employees looking out against haulers who illegally get sand or use recycled receipts.
The quarry industry has paid a total of P240 million in tax and fee since July—the highest collections on an annual basis since 1995—paying these instead at the provincial treasurer’s office than at the checkpoints, a major step that weeded out anomalies in the field.
Eduardo Gonzales, the leader of the protesting workers, said they have been informed of the governor’s pronouncement but have yet to receive a copy of a formal notice to be handed by the human resource chief.
Even if the notice came, Gonzales said the protest would continue and demand for the resignation of provincial administrator Vivian Dabu who prepared a July 18 letter that terminated the services of at least 71 employees who joined the first picket on July 10 to 13.
This, Gonzales said, violated their agreement during the July 14 negotiation brokered by civil society groups that the protesting workers would be “reinstated unconditionally.” The first protest opposed the reorganization of the committee following reports of incidents of illegal quarry operations that the supervisors allegedly failed to stop. The other cause, they said, was the “rude manner” by which Dabu dealt with them.
Panlilio said he had cancelled the termination order to keep up with the agreement and subsequently reinstated all of them even as they were casuals.
The contract, however, lasted until August 31 and renewable monthly due to budgetary constraints. This happened as the provincial board has yet to approve a supplemental budget for their additional compensation and the committee’s operations, he said.
Panlilio said he has been using the budget of the governor’s office since January to support the committee’s operations, which the provincial board did not fund.
Gonzales said the monthly contract does not ensure that they would get their Christmas bonus
The governor said civil service rules entitle casual employees with four months of continuous service to get Christmas bonus.
Explaining his decision to retrench the 40 protesters, Panlilio said: “In resuming the picket, they broke our agreement that we would hold a series of negotiations until we resolve our issues. The protest is also in violation of civil service’s rules but we exercised tolerance in the first instance. We are professionalizing the service and I have to keep the rule of law.”
He said he asked the leaders to dialogue with him on Sunday but they did not heed his request.
In their statement, the quarry workers professed “belief and trust” in Panlilio but scored Dabu for being “deaf and insensitive to their demands.” She said she was merely doing her job.
Some 150 employees in the committee as well as several senior employees felt that Panlilio was giving “too much leeway to the protesters when they have in fact abandoned their duties,” the governor said.
“We have a regulatory system (over the quarry industry) that needs to keep going to be able to collect taxes for government services,” he said to explain the thrust to normalize the operations on Monday.
Panlilio also deployed policemen to the quarry checkpoints to assist the employees looking out against haulers who illegally get sand or use recycled receipts.
The quarry industry has paid a total of P240 million in tax and fee since July—the highest collections on an annual basis since 1995—paying these instead at the provincial treasurer’s office than at the checkpoints, a major step that weeded out anomalies in the field.
