2 Cebu teachers sue DepEd Secretary

Two public school teachers in Cebu province sued top officials of the Department of Education (DepEd) for allegedly not recognizing their promotions as principals in 2008.

Lolita Uytico of Ronda Elementary School and Venus Bacalla of Tabuelan Elementary School filed their petition for mandamus with the Cebu Regional Trial Court.

They said Education Secretary Armin Luistro and other DepEd officials continue to deny their “lawful demand for proper assignment and adjustment of wages and benefits,” which correspond to the position of principal I.

Each teacher also sought payment of P640,000 in damages and litigation costs.

Other respondents named were DepEd Regional Director Recaredo Borgonia; Arden Monisit, Schools Division Superintendent for Cebu Province; and schools district supervisors of Ronda and Tabuelan towns.

In her complaint, Uytico, who has been a public school teacher in Ronda for 17 years and head teacher for nine years, said she was appointed principal I on May 19, 2008, after a DepEd Screening Committee evaluated her qualifications and recommended her that year.

Uytico cited her career record, which includes several awards and a Master of Arts degree and Doctor of Education degree from the University of the Visayas.

She said Schools Division Supt. Serena Uy appointed her principal I and that the appointment was confirmed by the Civil Service Commission.

Bacalla, who was appointed principal I of Tabuelan town, filed a similar petition.

Both teachers also complained that “leaking (the issue) to the media” had caused them shame. A local daily had reported that the DepEd was “probing (the) questionable promotion of two principals” and quoted Monisit, Schools Division Superintendent for Cebu province, as saying the two teachers “were not on the master list of principals who passed the qualifying exam and eligible for ranking since 2004.”

Sought for comment yesterday, Monisit said both teacher never sat as principals of their schools because their appointments were recalled by the CSC in Central Visayas when results of a qualifying test showed they had failed.

“They were appointed but they did not qualify because they did not pass the principal’s test,” he said.

The exam is taken by all head teachers to qualify them for promotion to a higher rank, Monesit explained.

He said the CSC explained to the teachers why they could not be seated a principals. He said the teachers resumed their posts as head teachers in Tabulen and Ronda. Ador Vincent S. Mayol and Candeze Mongaya