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IN the event an inept and dismal assistant head of office fails to deliver results despite his long tenure in office, the solution is to remove him from office so that a more competent one can take over. The idea of promoting him to become a full-fledged head of office should never even be thought of as the solution.

Word was that it is the presence of an overseer that prevents the assistant head from performing. This is totally wrong because other heads of office have been delivering despite the presence of overseers. Glaringly, those organic heads of office have contributed much to the city’s having reaped awards.

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The reason why those heads of office are delivering results may be simple – because they are competent to do their job.

The capabilities of the non-performing assistant head of office may be put to test instead by distancing the overseer from the operation of the department. The overseer needs not to be physically removed but he or she should not meddle with the functions of the organic assistant head of office for a given test period of at least one year.

Then, if the organic assistant head of office still fails to deliver, he or she should be removed from office. Of if there is still some delicadeza left in him, he should voluntarily resign from his post.

By recommending the promotion of an inept and incompetent assistant head of office would mean recommending to reward incompetence. That’s a bad practice. –Peter Clarete, peterclarete@gmail.com

Persecution

NATIONAL Security Adviser (NSA) Hermogenes Esperon, Jr. is behind this political persecution against rights groups. Knowing he has no case against Karapatan, Gabriela, and the Rural Missionaries of the Philippines (RMP), he has instead settled with targeting a single individual — 80-year-old Sister Elenita Belardo.

We are with Sr. Elen throughout this result, and will continue to strongly assert that this trumped-up case is a form of reprisal against RMP’s advocacy.

Sr. Elen is not a perjurer nor a criminal, unlike Esperon who has been military chief under Gloria Arroyo and has been implicated in corruption charges and various rights violations.

In a resolution dated Nov. 8, but was only received by respondents on Wednesday, Dec. 4, the perjury case filed by NSA Esperon on July 2, 2019, was dismissed by Senior Assistant Prosecutor Nilo A. Peñaflor for “lack of probable cause and/or insufficiency of evidence” against Karapatan officers Elisa Tita Lubi, Reylan Vergara, Cristina Palabay, Roneo Clamor, Gabriela Krista Dalena, Edita Burgos, Fr. Wilfredo Ruazol, and Jose Mari Callueng, RMP’s Sr. Emma Cupin and two Gabriela officers. However, the case, which is bailable, was still filed against Sr. Elenita Belardo, RGS in her capacity as then National Coordinator of RMP. As of Thursday, an order for the issuance of a warrant of arrest has been released by the Branch 37 of the Metropolitan Trial Court of Quezon City.

The perjury case was filed by Esperon after Karapatan, Gabriela, and RMP filed a petition for the issuance of writs of amparo and habeas corpus at the Supreme Court in May 2019. The groups named President Duterte and several military and government officials, including Esperon, who are part of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict (NTF-Elcac) as respondents. The groups sought protection from the Court, citing a series of red-tagging and human rights violations directed and the organizations and its members.

Who is afraid of Sr. Elen? Again, this crass, arrogant but failure of a government has chosen to pick a fight with another elderly nun. Last year, it was 71-year-old missionary nun Patricia Fox. This government is clearly worked up when it comes to missionaries under the RMP because the latter has long exposed inadequacies and undelivered basic services in the countryside.

This is in keeping with the systematic drive and legal offensive of the government through Executive Order No. 70 against human rights defenders and advocacy organizations, which include religious groups. To recall, lawyers of the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) were dipping their noses into the case and attending pre-trial hearings even though they were not technically party to it.

This is because this trumped-up charge is part of the sinister plans under Executive Order No. 70, particularly under its Legal Cooperation Cluster, which aims to file absurd cases against known critics against the government. The OSG is among the lead agencies in this cluster. Likewise, the said E.O. created the National Task Force to End Local Communist Armed Conflict which Esperon leads as vice-chair. This is an orchestrated and calculated attempt to silence dissent.

The trumped-up case filed by Esperon is absurd as it was immaterial to the petition for the writ of amparo filed by RMP, to which Esperon is one of the respondents. Even the Court of Appeals affirmed that organizations still have legal standing to avail of the amparo remedy, whether they are registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) or not. We repeat that the RMP did not have any intent to falsify, manufacture, or misrepresent anything. The reprisal perjury case shows us how vindictive and repressive this government can be: a government that criminalizes development work and dissent, weaponizes the law, and uses all its resources to turn its agencies into a repressive machinery.

Sr. Elen has more credibility than Duterte and all his generals combined. Sr. Elen has spent years away from the spotlight, dedicating herself in literacy programs. While this government is focused on destroying schools and denying the dismal state of education in the country, the likes of Sr. Elen have long invested their time, love, and effort, in helping communities attain their right to education and right to self-determination. –Cristina Palabay, secretary-general, Karapatan

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