The redundant Baciwa employees

By Modesto P. Sa-onoy

 

It was expected – the shedding off of some employees of the Bacolod City Water District under the so-called joint venture agreement between the district and Prime Water. What we did not know is how many would be removed from the work force until the first working day of 2021. Sixty of them were notified last week of December that they are no longer needed.

The basis of their termination was the Baciwa Board of Directors Resolution 172 of December 23 and signed by Director Mona Dia Jardin, Chairman Lorendo Dilag and Vice Chairman Lawrence Villanueva, which declared them as “redundant”. They are regular employees who have decided to remain employed by Baciwa instead of choosing the only two options offered.

They claimed that they were offered the option to apply for employment by Primewater Infrastructure Corp., the private entity that has taken control of the water district, or accept what they believed is the “utterly inappropriate even illegal and certainly immoral, early retirement incentive plan offered by this same private interest, which we see as little more than a bribe to entice government workers to end their public service.”

After a series of negotiations, in November 2020, PrimeWater took over Baciwa when the court dismissed the Instant Petition for the Declaratory Relief and Declaration of the Nullity of the Joint Venture Agreement between Baciwa and Primewater Infrastructure Inc. “for failure of the petitioners to state a cause of action.”

That decision killed the workers’ plea to retain Baciwa’s status and protect the workers from a situation like this.

The employee’s union said the board’s basis was the erroneous opinion of the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, which they stressed, was part of the joint venture selection committee that negotiated a supposed joint venture agreement that, in truth, handed over the operations and management of Baciwa to Primewater, to the detriment of the people of Bacolod City.

Indeed it was – it’s like the card dealer making the decision on what card is to be in every player’s hand. If there is any lutong makaw deal, this is it. The “makaw” does not refer to the beautiful Macao in China.

“We stand firm in our belief that the grounds cited by the Board of Directors for our supposed ‘redundancy’ have no basis in fact and in law and rely on the opinion of an agency which, because it was party to what, for all intents, was the surrender of public service to private interests, can hardly be relied on to undertake a sober and unbiased assessment of the situation.”

Of course, that is the reason it is a lutong makaw.

The workers continued to say that “while we acknowledge that the Board is the policy-making body, it is our conviction that it does not possess the authority to dictate our terms of employment, which are subject to and protected by the Civil Service Commission (CSC).”

The acting manager (where’s Atty. Julie Carbon?) Soliva has issued Office Order 2020-082 that the 60 employees, already declared redundant effective the last working hour of December 31, 2020, are not allowed to enter the premises except to turnover of their accountabilities or to process clearances and other benefits. However, like any outsider, they were required to fill out an appointment form available at the main lobby entrance.

They have also to follow a special protocol (a generally misused word these days of global innocence). Only five persons are allowed daily which means it will take twelve working days. Meanwhile the others have to wait and raise their anger a notch higher.

With this kind of management in new Baciwa, Bacolod is in for more trouble.

The sixty redundant workers boldly declared – “We are not leaving, we will not give up.” They knew they would be denied entry but came just the same to test the waters and found that the new management was adamant – they are outsiders.

Thus the battle lines are drawn but the redundant employees are at a disadvantage not because their cause is weak but their enemy is powerful. That should not dampen their resolve rather give them courage to fight a just cause.

There’s more in this.