BACOLOD City – The Civil Service Commission (CSC) in Western Visayas has ordered the reinstatement of Bacolod City Water District’s (Baciwa) 59 retrenched employees.
Their reinstatement must be “without loss of seniority” and they must be “entitled to full pay from the time of their separation until actual reinstatement,” according to the CSC in a 38-page resolution (dated Aug. 20) penned by Director Nelson Sarmiento.
Last Dec. 23, 2020 Baciwa’s board of directors declared the 59 employees and their respective posts “redundant” following a reorganization that stemmed from Baciwa’s joint venture with PrimeWater Infrastructure Corp. (Prime Water).
But according to the CSC, Baciwa “failed to show adequate and convincing proof” that the reduction of its workforce and the termination of its employees’ employment were necessary.
“It is not enough for them to merely declare their positions redundant…The essence of redundancy is that the existing manpower exceeds more than what is necessary in the operation of a certain agency. In other words, an employee’s position may be declared redundant when his/her services are already in excess of what is reasonably demanded by the actual requirement of the agency. The burden lies on the employer to prove the factual and legal basis/es for the termination of an employee’s services on the ground of redundancy.”
CSC also noted that Baciwa “violated” the provisions of Republic Act 6656 (Act to protect the security of tenure of CSC officers and employees in the implementation of government reorganization) in pursuit of its reorganization.
The Baciwa was given 15 days upon receipt of the CSC order to make an appeal.
Lorendo Dilag, Baciwa chairman of the board, said they have yet to receive a copy of the CSC resolution.
Once they have it, they would refer the matter to the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, which serves as the legal counsel of the water district, he said.
Earlier, Councilor Archie Baribar who chairs the Sangguniang Panlungsod’s committee on energy and public utilities said the retrenchment of the water district workers was “illegal.”
“(The entry of) Prime Water, which took over the operations of Baciwa, is only a joint venture agreement. It is not the new owner of Baciwa,” Baribar stressed.
While there were offers to employees to retire or voluntarily resign with incentives, Baribar said only the posts of those who accepted the offer can be declared vacant; those who did not could stay on their posts.
“(The retrenchment was) a blatant violation of security of tenure of Baciwa employees,” Baribar added.
The joint venture did not give Baciwa’s ownership to Prime Water or full control because it was only a 25-year agreement and after this, the operation of the water district will return to Baciwa because they are the owner, Baribar explained.
Director Mona Dia Jardin, Baciwa board secretary, said after the joint venture took effect on Nov. 13, 2020 when Prime Water took over the operations and management of the water district; Baciwa only had to retain employees tasked to monitor the private firm’s compliance with the agreement.
She said Baciwa reduced its staff from about 500 to only 23 for monitoring purposes. Other employees were absorbed by Prime Water while others opted for early retirement.
The retrenched workers, whose functions fell under operations and management, had been given the option to either re-apply with Prime Water or avail themselves of the early retirement incentive program, but they refused to choose between the two, as they preferred to remain as Baciwa workers.
Dilag said the board has a legal basis in declaring the employees and their positions redundant./PN
