Three bank accounts of the First Catanduanes Electric Cooperative, Inc. (FICELCO) have been garnished or seized by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) in order to pay the benefits of 57 former contractual employees who were regularized last year.
The garnishment of the accounts in April and May 2025 came despite an appeal from the FICELCO management for DOLE to await the approval by the National Electrification Administration (NEA) of Board Resolution No. 48 approving the realignment of P7.7 million in funding for important but non-urgent projects for the payment of the benefits.
Records furnished to the Tribune showed that on Nov. 13, 2024, DOLE Regional Director Imelda Gatinao issued a Writ of Execution to require FICELCO to pay the regularized employees the same benefits provided by law for regular employees from the date of their regularization in 2024.
In June last year, FICELCO management filed a motion for partial reconsideration, citing its need to comply with NEA directives on the issue as well as the fact that it had no available funds at the time to sustain compliance with the order.
The DOLE order, the cooperative argued, effectively amended the compromise agreement entered into by both parties when it entitled the subject employees to benefits under the Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), an act which it claimed cannot be done unilaterally.
In its reply, the affected employees, with the assistance of FICELCO Employees Union President Raoul Ross Zafe, replied that the law determines the status of employment.
DOLE subsequently denied the cooperative’s motion and affirmed the June 8, 2024 Order, which became final and executory on Oct. 12, 2024 in the absence of a perfected appeal from the respondent.
Last April 4, 2024, the FICELCO Board of Directors passed Resolution No. 48 approving the realignment of funds for the benefits of the regularized employees as the amount was not included in the approved 2025 Cash Operating Budget, necessitating immediate fund realignment that required a thorough review of available resources.
As a result, several vital projects had to be unfunded to provide financing for the settlement of the case.
The resolution was forwarded to NEA for its approval but the DOLE garnishment order was issued before the NEA could take action on the FICELCO measure.