ILOILO City – Starting Wednesday, Sept. 27, five out of six employees from the City Engineer’s Office (CEO) of the Iloilo City Government were dismissed due to their alleged involvement in the theft of an active main copper wire belonging to a telecommunications company.
Among the accused, one was a regular employee, while the other five were hired on a job contract basis.
Joel Gerasmia, Electrical Inspector II and Chief of Staff of CEO head Engineer Salvador Pedregosa, confirmed to the media yesterday morning that the names of the five contractual hires were provided to the Office of the City Administrator, overseen by Melchor Tan, for termination proceedings. The sixth employee, a regular staff member, has chosen to resign but insists on submitting an explanatory statement regarding the incident.
According to Gerasmia, the accused employees claimed that the copper wires were obstructing the road, leading them to load the wires onto a city government vehicle. However, personnel from PLDT, Inc. alleged that the six were caught in the act of stealing. The telecommunications company has since forwarded supporting photographic and video evidence to the CEO’s office.
Gerasmia issued a strict caution in response, saying, “Every day, I remind every team, and Engineer Pedregosa always emphasizes to them: if it isn’t ours, we shouldn’t take it.”
The alleged misconduct of these six employees was made public by Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on the night of Tuesday, Sept. 26. He announced an ultimatum, stating, “They have the option to resign immediately or face both criminal and administrative charges.”
The mayor once again referred to the incident during his speech at the 122nd Police Service Anniversary at the Iloilo City Police Office on Wednesday morning, Sept. 27, expressing his disappointment.
“Budlay kon ginabantayan mo ang iban, dasun ang balantayan ara sa kilid mo. Ano na lang na matabo sa aton? Kon indi sila mag-resign, file-an ko kag bal-an man ina nila nga tuod-tuod,” said Treñas./PN
