CALOOCAN CITY, (PIA) --Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello said that the Department of Migrant Workers DMW Secretary cannot order the reassignment of any officials and employees of the Philippine Overseas Employment Administration (POEA) pending the full constitution of the new department.
This after recent order of DMW Secretary Abdullah D. Mama-o reassigning and designating at least 16 POEA officials to new posts.
In a memorandum to POEA Administrator Bernard Olalia on May 23, Bello reiterated his instruction to maintain the status quo in the performance of the duties and responsibilities of POEA personnel.
DMW Secretary Mama-o issued on May 20 Administrative Order No. 56 Series of 2022 reassigning and designating 16 POEA officials, mostly division chiefs and directors, to new assignments.
The POEA personnel were further ordered by Mama-o to “clear themselves from all reportorial, property, and monetary accountabilities and ensure proper turnover of all their pending projects and programs, and submit their respective certificates of assumption to duty.”
“The POEA officials enumerated under DMW Administrative Order No. 56, Series of 2022 dated May 20, 2022, shall remain under the direct supervision and control of the DOLE Secretary and shall maintain a status quo in their daily operations,” Bello said.
Furthermore, the labor chief said the issuance of the DMW Administrative Order (AO) runs counter to the letters of Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea and the Department of Justice Opinion issued by Secretary Menardo Guevarra.
“It [DMW AO] also unduly hampers the discharge and administration of functions, duties, and responsibilities of the POEA Administrator,” Bello said.
Under Section 23 of Republic Act No. 11641, the DMW shall not be constituted without an appropriation in the 2023 General Appropriations Act, an effective implementing rules and regulations, and a staffing pattern.
Bello further clarified that the DMW has not been fully constituted, hence, the government agencies enumerated in Section 19 of the said law shall continue to exist separately and shall perform their respective mandates.
In the same order, Bello said that any official or employee of the POEA who violates the Memorandum shall immediately be administratively sanctioned in accordance with existing Civil Service Rules and Regulations. (DOLE/PIA-NCR)
