Former DOT Undersecretary happy on Ombudsman impeachment!

Insiders from the Department of Tourism have indicated that former Undersecretary Theresa Ilagan Martinez had expressed happiness over the move of Congress to impeach Ombudsman Merceditas Guiterrez.

Martinez who was removed from Office by the Ombudsman for practicing Nepotism is currently appealing the decision and trying to reverse it with the help of her patron who seats as one of the Board Members of the Foundation of former President Fidel V. Ramos.

DOT employees feel that a return of Martinez to the Department will derail the reorganization moves to prepare the DOT for future campaigns. It will be noted that upon the assumption of Bertie Lim to the Office of Secretary of the Department of Tourism, he promoted Martinez to the rank of Undersecretary without looking into her background. Martinez on the other hand filled all the positions in the DOT with her allies and ensured that Lim would be surrounded by people loyal to her like Undersecretary Jasmin and the current Director of the DOT Special Concerns Office.

Martinez at the onset of Lim’s appointment was heard to claim that she had the full trust and confidence of Secretary Alberto Lim and nothing goes to him without her approval or being consulted.

Her removal from office was a result of the a case filed by the head of the DOT Employees Cooperative back in 2007 where it was found that she had a direct hand in having her brother Mario ILagan hired in the San Francisco Office of the Department. The employee who filed the case has since died.

Interested to learn more about this topic? Read our older posts!

PNOY promotes corrupt tourism official to Undersecretary

Corrupt DOT Undersecretary guilty of NEPOTISM – Ombudsman

Another PNOY government official accused of NEPOTISM

Another official of the Aquino government has been accused of Nepotism. Sources within the Department of Foreign Affairs have indicated that a certain Assistant Secretary Catalino Dilem Jr. had hired his relatives to work in the DFA. It was revealed that Assistant Secretary Dilem Jr. who happens to head the Office for Personnel and Administrative Services (OPAS) of the DFA facilitated the hiring of his nephew and niece Ivan Verzosa and Maureen Joy Santos and a certain contractual employee by the name of George Labrador. It was also indicated that Dilem Jr. has been willfully disobeying orders from the Office of the Secretary on matters of rotation and post appointments of regular DFA employees and instead placing his or “her” “favorites” in choice overseas posts. This is in direct violation of Department Order No. 14-10 or Revised Rules and Procedure on Administrative Cases of the Board of Foreign Service Administration which was signed by Secretary Alberto G. Romulo last October 8, 2010 most specially on the first issue of nepotism. Under Rule 3, Section 9 of this D.O. entitled classification of offenses which classifies infractions as grave, less grave and light, NEPOTISM falls under number 13, Item A which lists grave offenses, the punishment and penalty of which is immediate dismissal for the 1st offense. However, despite the existence of the Department Order, DFA employees have been reluctant to file any complaints against Assistant Secretary Catalino Dilem Jr. for fear of reprisal and the knowledge that the OPAS, which he heads, is the first office that determines whether the complaint will prosper based on Rule IV or the Rule for filing complaints. Section 12 of Rule IV says that all complaints will be filed with the OPAS as the first step of initiating any investigation. OPAS will likewise determine the who, why, what, where and how and the validity of the complaint. Only after they are satisfied that the complainant is in fact a real person and the complaint is sufficient in form and substance will they elevate and consider the matter or charges as valid, otherwise OPAS can dismiss it outright. So it is evident by these alone that any complaint being filed against the powerful Assistant Secretary will not prosper at all because he controls the office that determines whether a complaint is a valid. OPAS also controls the rotation and the assignment of DFA personnel to our foreign offices abroad. Any DFA employee filing a case against the head of OPAS would automatically expect that he would no longer be considered to any foreign post or what they would call a permanent home assignment. As regards this case to ever prosper against Assistant Secretary Catalino Dilem Jr., it would have to take the Secretary of the Department himself to order an investigation on the allegations if he so warrants and if he determined that enough merits are present to do so.

The question therefore remains as to what other recourse the DFA employees have to pursue their complaint against Catalino Dilem Jr. Well, Rule II of the same Department Order allows the the complainant to file a case against erring officials outside of the jurisdiction of the DFA if they are at the same time criminal in nature. DFA employees who wish to complain may file the case with the Civil Service Commission pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 807, under Article IX, Section 36 item a, number 30 as enumerated further in Article 10, Section 49 specifically dealing on Nepotism. The Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act (Republic Act No. 3019, as amended); specifically items a and g of Section 3 may apply to the case of Assistant Secretary Catalino Dilem Jr. And under Section 8, Paragraph B of Republic Act 6713 may force him to reveal his true association with the above relatives as stated by the DFA sources. And if the accusations are truly valid, the same DFA employees can follow the lead of the DOT employees and file a case against Dilem with the Ombudsman. In a very similar case where Undersecretary Theresa I. Martinez (who oversees the Administrative services of the DOT) hired her brother for a position in the San Francisco office of the DOT, the Ombudsman found her guilty and immediately ordered her dismissal from the service. The case took 2 years with the actual complainant dying before a decision was finally passed. There is hope after all.

With the eventual exit of Secretary Alberto Romulo, we hope that this criminal in skirts lording it over at the OPAS be finally given a swan song. Otherwise it may fall on the laps of Merceditas Gutierrez who has no love lost for this current administration to give Dilem the axe.

Alberto Lim appointment deferred by CA

In a stunning move that echoed the sentiments of the general public, the appointment of Alberto Lim as Secretary of Tourism was deferred by the powerful Commission of Appointments. This after the CA conducted a public hearing that saw opponents of the beleaguered DOT Secretary hurl insults and accusations at him on his poor performance at the post for the last 6 months. Opponents cited his lack of action on the massacre of Hong Kong residents last 02 August at the grandstand and belittling the HK and China tourist market; his favoring the open skies; firing of tourism officials both from the DOT and the Tourism Board of the Philippines; and, the Pilipinas Kay Ganda debacle which he has denied having had anything to do with from its onset.

Robert Lim Joseph, Chair of the Travel Cooperative of the Philippines, did not hold back and called Alberto Lim an “idiot,” a “liar,” and an “incompetent”.

Tourism bodies who also opposed the confirmation were present to include representatives of Cebu Interline Operators, Chamber of Real Estate Builders Association, Davao Association of Tour Operators, Davao Tourism Association, Hotel, Resort and Restaurant Association of Cebu to name a few.

Alberto Lim sat bewildered but unmoved during the whole process as the majority of tourism bodies rejected his appointment for the causes mentioned.

Malacanang has stood beside Lim despite his efforts to involve the President in the Pilipinas Kay Ganda Polska plagiarism issue where Lim identified the President as suggesting changes to the campaign logo with the inclusion of the smiling sun and the tarsier.

The question remains whether the President will continue to insist on the appointment of Lim as the DOT Chief and re-submit his appointment papers. This maybe after further back room negotiations are conducted by the DOT Legislative Liaison Office of Theresa I. Martinez on the travel requirements and junkets of CA staffers and officers.

Let’s see if the PNOY campaign slogan still holds true -“Kung walang corrupt, walang mahirap”! Let’s see if the Commission of Appointment members have the integrity to uphold national interest and the interest of the tourism industry as a whole by not confirming Alberto Lim.