Luz sues Malacañang
October 14, 2005 @ 2:41 pm · Posted by Avigail Olarte
Filed under In the News, Governance

IN an unprecedented move, Education Undersecretary
Juan Miguel Luz filed a complaint against Executive
Secretary Eduardo Ermita at 2:40 p.m. today before the
Civil Service Commission (CSC), declaring his transfer
to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE)
illegal and a blatant disregard of his rights as a
civil servant.

“I am an educator. I’m not a labor expert,” Luz said,
“Termination is not part of the issue here. But
reassignment is basically like termination.”

Luz received his notice of transfer to the labor
department on Oct. 4. He was fired as undersecretary
last Sept. 13 with a letter from Ermita thanking him
for his services as undersecretary.

Luz was fired by the President in what seemed to be a
fallout from the DepEd’s refusal to accept thee
postdated checks, P15 million in all, that the Palace
issued for Zambales Rep. Antonio Diaz’s scholarship
program at the time when Congress was deliberating on
the impeachment complaint against the President. This
move from the Palace has raised suspicions that the
DepEd was being used to launder money for legislators
who supported President Arroyo (See the PCIJ’s report:
The President’s Gravy Train)

In the complaint, Luz’s lawyers said he was being
sacked for doing the right thing. Luz said his
integrity was put to test when he was asked to accept
the postdated checks. Luz refused the checks since
they were devoid of documentation and these were
against the government accounting and auditing rules.
Three days after refusing to honor the checks, Luz
received his termination letter.

The CSC had issued an opinion that Luz could not be
dismissed from government service because he is a
career executive service officer (CESO) and holds a
regular item in the government plantilla. The CSC said
Luz could not be removed from the position without
cause and due process: “The termination clearly did
not mention any cause or reason for termination.”

Malacañang subsequently announced that Luz had been
“terminated as undersecretary but not as CESO” and
that he will be reassigned to some other position of
the same rank.

In his complaint, Luz stated that the order of
transfer was obviously done for political reasons.
What makes it worse, his lawyers said, is that there
is no vacant position of undersecretary at the DOLE.
This places Luz on a “floating” status and is deemed
“constructively dismissed.”

His lawyers said the Palace could not turn a blind eye
to the successful reforms Luz has instituted at the
DepEd (eg. establishing the Procurement Service,
organizing the National Textbook Delivery Program,
providing direct funding releases to fiscally
autonomous high schools and school divisions) and his
overall outstanding performance.

“Quite clearly, (Luz) was removed because he was an
obstacle to the wishes of the President that she
distributes the Presidential Social Fund (PSF) with no
restrictions, even when funds are not available, hence
the postdated checks,” the complaint stated.

His lawyers said Luz is known for his sterling
qualifications and his reputation as a highly
educated, competent, and honest public servant. “No
amount of political power nor threat of punishment
should be able to intimidate civil servants into loyal
submission, blind obedience, and conspiracy to commit
unlawful acts.”

The Palace had earlier issued a statement that reports
“linking disbursements of the PSF to the impeachment
is wrong, misplaced and unfair.”

Read the full text of the complaint here.

Permalink

5 Comments »

Rizalist said,
October 14, 2005 @ 4:46 pm

PROFESSIONALISM in the government service is rare
enough. But Mr. Luz could not be more deserving of his
claim to be an EDUCATOR, for in this he teaches by the
example of courage. The combination makes him a gem in
the rough.

gagay said,
October 14, 2005 @ 5:03 pm

I admire Usec Luz for doing the right moves like
bringing his complaint to the proper court, he has
shown so much dignity & courage. He will truly bring
inspiration to a lot of people and that is whether or
not he wins this case.

Godspeed Usec Luz!

jorgec said,
October 14, 2005 @ 5:48 pm

I don’t know enough about USec Luz, but this one act
of professionalism, courage and dignity is enough; he
has my prayers and best wishes, sana he pulls this
off. Ang dami ng kabalastugan si GMA, it’s getting
harder and harder to keep track of them all.

Rizalist said,
October 14, 2005 @ 6:53 pm

Dear Jorgec,

Mike Luz was in charge of Finance at the DepEd but I
hear he was particularly interested in solving the
perennial problem of textbooks, or lack thereof.

The lack of decent instructional materials, desks,
texbooks, computers, etc. in the public schools is
often said to be because the country does not spend
enough on education and the general state of
impoverishment.

Of course, we can never spend enough on education, but
above claim is deceptive because the real problem lies
in how we allocate the budget.

Next year for example the DepEd could get up to 120
billion pesos for its annual budgetary allocation. But
94% of that will got to SALARIES and PERSONNEL
BENEFITS.

I got nothing against having lots of teachers, but
it’s a lil bit like running Fedex using 400,000
drivers with permanent lifetime contracts, but no
trucks, planes, computers or telephones!

Then we wonder why the only countries ranked lower
than the Philippines in basic elementary education
(per TIMSS) are Botswanna and Somalia.

roamee said,
October 14, 2005 @ 7:31 pm

kakaiba talaga ang pamamalakad ni gma… basta di
makakatulong sa kanya, papatalsikin niya.. eh
nagkamali siya.. matapang at malinis ang nakanti
niya.. pinapakita tuloy baho niya.. buti na lang at
meron pang mga tulad ni usec. luz.. sama na natin si
gen. gudani at col. balutan.. umpisa na talaga ng
pagbagsak ni gloria!