ALL BECAUSE OF A DEAD PIG. Cagayan de Oro Press Club president Jerry Orcullo (center) raises a clenched fist together with dismissed Radyo Ultra broadcasters Wenefredo Dellava and Edgar Navarro. The two media workers filed a complaint for illegal dismissal against the radio station before the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC). (PHOTO BY NITZ ARANCON)
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By NITZ ARANCON
Correspondent

THIS one’s certainly for the books.

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Two employees of Ultra Craft Broadcasting Corp. suddenly found themselves jobless after they allegedly caught the ire of the owner because they and other workers ate a “lechon” sent by Mayor Oscar Moreno’s son to their radio station a day after the city’s fiesta.

The move prompted broadcasters Wenefredo Dellava and Edgar Navarro to press illegal dismissal charges against Maria Clarisa Gualberto Suan, owner of Radio Ultra station, before the National Labor Relations Commission-Regional Arbritration Office (NLRC 10) on Monday.

Lawyer Violeta Suazo, desk officer of the Single Entry Approach of NLRC 10, has scheduled an “amicable settlement” meeting between the two parties at 10 am on Sept. 14.

According to Dellava and Navarro, Suan told them in a meeting on Sept. 2 that they were no longer employees of Radio Ultra, citing “misbehavior” as the offense.

According to the complainants, Dellava was asked during the meeting why they ate the “lechon” sent by Moreno’s son Sean to the station as a token for being a “media partner” (sponsor) in the Rafton Game event in Aug. 29.

The complainants said they and other workers were berated, and told that the lechon was for the Suan family, and not for the staff of Radio Ultra.

Dellava, however, maintained that the person who delivered the lechon clearly said that the lechon was for Radio Ultra.

Dellava said he and the other workers were called “bastos, patay-gutom,” and abused with other demeaning labels.

For his part, Radio Ultra station manager Frank Mendez defended the media company, saying it was the prerogative of the management to decide on undesirable employees.

“Once  the employees misbehave in the performance  of their duties, the employer is protected by the Labor Code of the Philippines to invoke Article 282 thereof with just cause and good faith, and that is a part of management prerogative,” Mendez said.

In a statement, the Cagayan de Oro Press Club (COPC) and the local chapter of the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines (NUJP) said the reason for the dismissal was “unacceptable.”

“We fully support the arbitrarily dismissed radio reporters’ move to hold the management of Radio Ultra accountable even as the latter have filed illegal dismissal charges…” the joint COPC-NUJP statement reads in part.

NUJP-Cagayan de Oro interim vice chair Cong Corrales said COPC and the local chapter of NUJP would form a fact-finding team to look into the plight of Radio Ultra employees.

“What misbehavior are they talking about? Are the Suans so hard up now that they begrudge their employees over one lechon after a three-day coverage of the city fiesta?” Corrales asked rhetorically.

In the same joint statement, both the NUJP and COPC said they consider the “unprovoked attack on the welfare and job security within the ranks of local media an attack to both our organizations.”

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