Very recently, I wrote in this corner the scandalous goings-on within the halls of the Devastated Bank of the Philippines. Pardon me…I meant the Development Bank of the Philippines.
I wonder if the local officials and employees in this area know or even have an inkling that, sooner or later, the DBP Employees Union and the Association of DBP Career Officers (ADCO) are on the verge of staging the very first protest strike against DBP management nationwide.
I guess this could be my own scoop of sorts as not even the mainstream media have even noted nor observed such an indication. Could be earth-shaking, huh?
I have been in constant touch with Jun Tirado and Mario Pagaragan, Jr., DBPEU and ADCO presidents, respectively, who firmly voiced their collective disillusionment as the matter has aggravated into alarming proportions.
Pagaragan has, in fact, initiated the filing of plunder charges against the top DBP hierarchy who were appointees of the past PNoy administration for the alleged wholesale mismanagement of the DBP treasury amounting to some P10B.
Pagaragan and Tirado, in behalf of their respective groups, have also attempted to seek presidential intervention on the matter. They went to Malacanang a few weeks ago in December hoping to get an audience with CabSec Leoncio Evasco.
“We are hoping that Sec. Evasco could give us some of his precious time,” the two union officers prayed.
Unfortunately, the season was a very busy one and so 2016 passed by quietly and without a honk even.
Among other things, the two unions want immediate, prompt action from Pres. Duterte to prevent the unfathomable merging of DBP with LandBank as hastily ordered in an EO issued by PNoy in 2015 that would have the latter as the surviving entity.
Pagaragan, a DBP career vice-president, said the merger would, in effect, cover-up the wanton, injudicious expenses authored by PNoy appointees in the millions including payment to a contractor which were disallowed by the COA.
“Pag natuloy ang merger, mapagtatakpan nila ang malaking salapi na kanilang nilustay,” they declared.
DBP is now only a shadow of its once great, lofty and venerable standing as the most prestigious, most progressive and best-run government depository bank.
Pagaragan, Tirado and other union officers are also the target of intrigues and harassment of high-ranking DBP officials whom the two unions have accused of conspiracy and collusion for bestowing upon themselves huge bonuses, perks and benefits that were thereafter disallowed by the COA.
It would be a travesty of justice if Malacanang fails to prevent the DBP-LBP merger which is now undergoing and should have been finalized by July 2016.
The vigilance of Pagaragan, Tirado and their fellow union officers against abusive and well-entrenched DBP personalities displays a certain degree of nationalistic fervor as they have not flinched a bit in the pursuit of justice and equity.
All union officers, they alleged, have been penalized, one way or the other, by the withholding or suspension of their allowances and other perks.
This condition has driven them to penurious situations such that many of them have taken to sleeping in the DBP basement to save transportation money.
Pagaragan, Tirado and their union members are exhausting peaceful remedies available before they raise protesting voices and lift strike placards in their own hands.
“It is going to be nation-wide,” Pagaragan and Tirado jointly echoed, saying the strike could resemble that of the hollering winds that Typhoon Yolanda brought with her to wreak havoc to our shores. (Email your feedback to fredlumba@yahoo.com.) God bless the Philippines!
