MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Justice (DOJ) affirmed the assumption of Tereso Panga as officer-in-charge (OIC) of the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (Peza), the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) said.
As an attached agency of the DTI, Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual was probed by lawmakers over the leadership row at the Peza.
Panga who assumed the position of Peza OIC, allegedly fired, ordered the transfer or demoted employees who were aligned with former Peza chief Charito Plaza.
READ: ‘Is he God at Peza?’ Leadership row raised vs DTI chief at confirmation hearing
In a Facebook post on Thursday, the DTI said the DOJ “has issued DOJ Opinion No. 17, s. 2022 affirming that the assumption of Deputy Director General (DDG) Panga as OIC director general (DG) is legal and valid”.
Pascual previously explained that Panga assumed the position of Peza OIC after President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr, ordered that vacant positions in government agencies, offices, and bureaus be filled by those who are next in rank.
The DOJ further confirmed this amid the leadership row in Peza, adding that Panga will continue his duties as OIC DG of Peza until December 31, 2022 or if a replacement is appointed.
However, Pascual asked Panga to submit a written explanation for the complaints of abuse filed against him by Peza employees, vowing to conduct an inquiry into the complaints.
The DTI said that while Pascual is Peza’s board chairperson, he “is not directly involved in Peza’s day-to-day operations, such as human resource and management. Pascual only found out about the issue and the allegations during his confirmation hearing at the Commission on Appointments.
“Now this matter of employees having complaints is coming to my attention only now. I have not had reports from the employees directly when these things are happening. Now that I’m aware of this, we will investigate and see how we can address the problems,” Pascual previously said.
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