A ranking official of the DPWH Catanduanes District Engineering Office who was requested to report to the regional office “in the exigency of the service” has filed an appeal with the Civil Service Commission over what he claimed is an act of constructive dismissal.
Engineer III Pedro Ceferino T. Guerrero, who heads the Materials & Quality Assurance Section, ran to the CSC regional office several weeks after he was furnished a copy of the Feb. 1, 2023 memorandum signed by then District Engineer Edy Ferdinand Joven and Regional Director Virgilio Eduarte.
In his appeal, he said the reassignment would financially dislocate him, considering that he would be forced to rent an apartment in Legazpi City.
The reassignment was done indiscriminately and whimsically as there was no legal basis at all, with the appellant having committed no act or omission that would warrant such punishment, the appeal stated.
It cited an incident at the DPWH Catanduanes Bids and Awards Committee sometime in January wherein he had a heated argument with TWG head Engr. Rosana Camacho over her insistence that the BAC review their decision to post-qualify the winners of the bidding for the improvement of road at Batalay, Bato.’
The DPWH regional director, the Guerrero appeal said, committed grave abuse of discretion and serious errors in law in issuing the memo.
“In the exigency of service and due to voluminous projects for implementation, you are hereby requested to report to the DPWH Regional Office No. V, Rawis, Legazpi City,” said the memo to Guerrero who was asked to coordinate with the Chief of the Materials Quality Assurance and Hydrology Division “for further instruction regarding this assignment.”
Engr. Guerrero refused to receive the memo and sent a memo to Joven pointing out that the Feb. 1 memo was “vague and cannot be understood.”
He also asked if the voluminous projects being referred to were for implementation by the Catanduanes DEO or the regional office.
“Please clarify because you are already without authority when it comes to the Regional Office,” Guerrero underscored.
He likewise asked Joven to clarify if he (Guerrero) is being reassigned to the Regional Office Materials Division, as it is only the appointing authority (the DPWH secretary) who can issue reassignment orders.
In seeking clarity of the memorandum’s purpose, the section chief said DE Joven and RD Eduarte must be clear on the issue to avoid misinterpretation and be compliant with Civil Service rules and regulations.
The “voluminous projects” cited by DE Joven are most likely the P2.1-billion worth of infrastructure projects costing P10 million in above that were transferred for implementation to the regional office allegedly upon request of Cong. Eulogio Rodriguez.
Engr. Guerrero reportedly signed the adverse findings contained in the materials and quality assurance reports on the controversial Capilihan concreting that was implemented by the congressman’s construction company, ERR Construction.
His refusal to report to the regional office put on hold the solon’s alleged bid to have the planning section chief transferred to Guerrero’s post, with the planning section to be taken over by a member of the BAC-Technical Working Group who is close to the congressman.
𝐂𝐀𝐋𝐋 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐏𝐄𝐑𝐒
The Philippine Association for the Study of Culture, History, and Religion (PASCHR), Inc. in collaboration with the Catanduanes State University invites you to the 9th PASCHR International Conference on “Narratives and Practices of Meaning-Making: Histories, Cultures, and Religions in the Philippines in their Indo-Pacific contexts” on May 18-20, 2023!
The conference will use a hybrid modality, allowing participants to present and attend either onsite or online. Don’t miss out on this opportunity to engage with scholars and practitioners from different parts of the world. Check the details below.
The 9th International Conference of the PASCHR will accept paper presentations reflective of the whole gamut of the meaning-making enterprise of Filipino communities, distilled into a variety of narrative and practice strategies, such as but not limited to:
Historical accounts, ethnographic descriptions, linguistic/literary studies that represent assertions and/or contestations of collective identities
Accounts of patently or marginally religious narratives and practices (e.g. the ritualist and ritual-like) that embody worldviews, ideologies, ontologies
NOTE:
Papers may cover any of the historical periods namely the pre-colonial, colonial and contemporary, or their dynamic interfaces
Contextualization within the Indo-Pacific sphere is preferred
Presentations may be of completed data-based researches, works-in-progress, literature reviews, or of mainly analytical/theoretical expositions.
Preference however will be for data-based studies, whether completed or a work-in-progress.
Proposals for panel presentation are welcome
Papers by graduate and undergraduate college students will be accepted
𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐛𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬:
- The abstract is a direct and succinct description of the paper. It must include the broad objective/s addressed, the methodology and the findings and/or basic assertions. Please limit according to the following:
- A title of up to 12 words
- Up to five key words or phrases
- Main body of not more than 200 words
- Use of Arial 11 font
- It must be accompanied by a short bio note of the proponent/s, not beyond 70 words each
- Please send submissions to Google Form Link https://forms.gle/tPS6ZH7dAngKZt8o9
- Paper presentors must be members of the PASCHR or the PASR (Philippine Association for the Study of Religion). Membership fee must be paid after acceptance note is received.
- Important dates:
Deadline for submission of abstract: March 31, 2023
Sending of acceptance note: April 5-10, 2023
Deadline for submission of full paper: May 15, 2023