Mayor fires budget officer

KIDAPAWAN CITY -A former budget officer of a local government unit in a town in North Cotabato was terminated from public service for her alleged poor performance and failure to submit performance evaluation sheets for two years, starting July 2013. The order to drop from rolls former Magpet municipal government budget officer Erly Roque-Baudi came from Magpet Mayor Florenito Gonzaga. Gonzaga, in his Office Order Number 002 dated July 7, cited three reasons for doing such. First, he said that Baudi failed to submit her performance evaluation sheet from July 2013 until December 2013. Second, the Performance Evaluation Review Committee tasked by Gonzaga rated poor Baudi’s performance from January 2014 to December 2014. Third, Baudi failed to submit her Office Performance Commitment Review from January 2015 to June 2015. Unfair, unjust Baudi, after receiving such office order, cried foul and called it ‘unfair and unjust’. In an interview, she denied having failed to submit to Gonzaga’s office her performance evaluation sheet (PES). In fact, in so many instances, my PES was always denied by the mayor,” she said. She also reacted to review committee’s rating of her performance in 2014, saying there was no action from the LGU to help her improve her craft or her performance. If indeed, I had a poor performance in 2014, isn’t it proper that the LGU conduct or send me to training or give me coaching lessons so I would improve?But that didn’t happen under his administration,” she said. On July 3, 2013, right after Gonzaga’s assumption as mayor of Magpet, Baudi, along with three other department heads, were re-assigned to different offices. Their representation allowances and travel allowances (RATAs) were also taken from them, Baudi said. Of the four department heads, it was only Baudi and former General Services Office head, Engineer Donald Homez, filed complaints in 2013 at the Civil Service Commission (CSC) in Region 12 based in Koronadal City. On February 14, 2014, the CSC-12 has ordered Gonzaga to re-instate Baudi and three other department heads to their positions and to grant them their RATAs. But according to Baudi, Gonzaga failed to heed to CSC’s order, instead, he filed a petition for review at the CSC’s national headquarters in Metro Manila. On November 6, 2014, the CSC head office has re-affirmed its regional office’s decision on Baudi’s case. Politics behind termination Baudi said politics was behind her termination. She said the mayor accused her of supporting his rival candidate in the mayoral post in May 2016. I don’t support any candidate.I am not even a candidate running for any position in our town.So why is he doing this to me?” she asked. Baudi was budget officer during the administration of former Mayor Efren Pinol, Sr., now the town’s vice-mayor. Gonzaga believed that Pinol is going to run against him in next year’s mayoral contest in Magpet. Baudi said she is set to file criminal and administrative charges against Gonzaga for her alleged illegal termination from office. I want justice here.It’s not fair that I’d be terminated just because of politics,” she stressed. Baudi holds a permanent status as budget officer of the Magpet LGU with salary grade 24.