Another government office was stripped bare of its equipment and furnishings after Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto fired an office head for “questionable practices and abusive behavior.”
In a Facebook post, the local chief executive took pictures of a particular office owned by a government employee whom he recently removed from position.
Sotto did not drop any name but he mentioned that the bare office was an indication of “how some people treat the government like their private property.”
“We are giving everyone a chance. Some of the most successful transitions in LGUs (local government units) have come with minimal changes in personnel. But we will deal with the abusive as they deserve, and with the full force of the law,” he wrote.
This is the room of one Office Head after i fired him. He was removed because of some questionable practices and abusive…
Posted by Vico Sotto on Sunday, August 18, 2019
In the comments section, Sotto admitted that one of the challenges he encountered while transitioning as a mayor was property inventory.
“Isa sa mga naging problema natin sa transition na ito ay hindi maayos ang imbentaryo ng gamit. ‘Di malinaw saan dinala ang milyon-milyong (o bilyong) kagamitan,” he shared.
“Ni walang sticker at number karamihan ng mga kagamitan sa mga opisina kaya ang hirap i-trace ‘pag nawala,” Sotto continued.
In the post, the 30-year-old city chief reminded his constituents to “keep reporting” any “abusive” government official by calling the number 643-1111 or going directly to the office near Pasig City Hall’s main entrance.
When he first moved into the mayor’s office last July, Sotto revealed that there were no computers to be found despite its “lavish” interior.
He didn’t give it much fuss and said that the former city chief, Robert “Bobby” Eusebio, has the right to remove his supposedly personal property in the office.
Empty offices
It was not the first time that government offices were left completely bare following a public official’s departure.
The camp of Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella revealed that when he stepped into his predecessor’s office, former Mayor Tomas Osmeña, it was completely empty down to the tiles.
Then-incoming city attorney Rey Gealon said that “the plumbing and the wiring were destroyed or cut off” as well.
Cebu’s Department of General Services confirmed that Osmeña had owned all of the shelves, light and plumbing fixtures, partitions, doors, floor works and the ceiling in the office.
According to Osmeña, he was forced to use his personal money and monetary donations from his friends since the city council — then headed by Labella that time — refused his request for funds without a reason.
The Department of Interior and Local Government said that he could face administrative charges for removing office fixtures under the Revised Penal Code.
Article 308 of the law states that it is prohibited for a person to “take personal property of another without the latter’s consent.”
It also includes the following acts:
- Any person who, having found lost property, shall fail to deliver the same to the local authorities or to its owner;
- Any person who, after having maliciously damaged the property of another, shall remove or make use of the fruits or object of the damage caused by him.
The sanctions depend on how valuable the property is.
