BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
The Bacolod City Water District will seek legal remedies against the recent decision of the Civil Service Commission to reinstate 50 employees who were earlier terminated due to redundancy of position.
In a statement sent to the DAILY STAR, Baciwa said they were given 15 days to either file a Motion for Reconsideration or a Petition for Review with the CSC main office in Manila, and the decision will be held in abeyance pending the resolution of the case.
The members of the Board of Directors received a copy of the CSC resolution yesterday, that ordered them to pay the terminated employees their back-wages.
Baciwa will also refer this issue to its lawyer, the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel, for advice and appropriate action.
Regional director Nelson Sarmiento of CSC Western Visayas said there is a strong indication that the reorganization in Baciwa, following its partnership with PrimeWater, resulted in the redundancy of the positions of the terminated employees.
Sarmiento said the evidence of redundancy is that the existing manpower exceeds more than what is necessary in the operation of a certain agency, which means that an employee’s position may only be declared redundant if his or her services are already in excess of what is demanded by the actual requirement of the agency.
He said Baciwa failed to show adequate and convincing proof that the reduction of their workforce and the termination of the employees are necessary and that it is not enough for them to merely declare their positions redundant.*
