Employees of the Development Academy of the Philippines opposing the leadership of their president, Atty Elba Cruz, hold a vigil infront of their office in Pasig City on Thursday. Contributed photo
Employees of the Development Academy of the Philippines have called on President Duterte to dismiss DAP’s top official for the frequent personal and official travels she made since she was appointed to her position eight months ago.
In a letter to Mr. Duterte dated Dec. 8, DAP Personnel Association (Dapper) president Gerald Cruz urged Duterte to replace lawyer Elba Cruz, citing allegations of mismanagement, untoward attitude toward employees and frequent foreign travels.
Cruz was appointed last April 3 by Duterte to replace former DAP president Antonio Kalaw Jr.
Black-shirt protest
More than 200 DAP employees wore black shirts during the flag-raising ceremony at the agency to join the protest, Cruz said. The group held a press conference in Ortigas Center shortly after.
Dapper also accused Cruz for “gross violation of civil service rules and regulations,” designation of employees with questionable background and civil standards, displacement of plantilla-based personnel, procedural and administrative lapses, unclear leadership directions, and various complaints from demoralized employees.
“In her eight months in office, she was on travel abroad almost every month. Her frequent travels ‘could deprive the academy of executive time for physically managing the academy,’” the letter stated.
‘Inaccurate, misleading’
An official statement sent to the Inquirer by DAP’s human resources head Emmanuel Silan said the allegations thrown at Cruz were “inaccurate,” and “misleading” as most of her travels were work-related.
There were no unnecessary travel expenses since most were sponsored travels and incidental with DAP’s membership in the International Productivity Organization, it said.
After her appointment, Cruz went to Iran in April where she served as plenary chair for the Asian Productivity Organization (APO), which sponsored her trip.
Official, personal trips
She then went to Russia and Hungary in May and in Japan in July.
She was on personal travel abroad from July 23 to Aug. 6, and then went to the United States from Aug. 6 to 15 for six major meetings and was a speaker at the George Washington University.
Her official and work-related US and Japan trips were all paid by APO and DAP, the statement said.
In September, she went to Russia as a speaker for a conference sponsored by the MGIMO University. She went to Korea in October for an APO-sponsored trip, and then to Moscow, Russia, for an international conference.
The DAP-sponsored Russia trip resulted in four MOA, the DAP-HR said.
Honor
In November, the Office of the Senate president paid for her trip to the Netherlands and Germany as part of the Lakbay Aral of the League of Vice Governors of the Philippines in partnership with the DAP.
“Her being invited as conference speaker or designated as plenary chairman (is) an honor not just for the academy but for the country as well,” said DAP’s official statement.
The Dapper, however, claimed the former DAP presidents were not away as frequent as Cruz as they only went abroad during the signing of memorandums of agreement.
Dapper also accused Cruz of having frequent and “whimsical” movement of personnel from one office to another, and having “unclear directions” for DAP.