Davao City—The City Government of Davao dismissed seven employees of Ancillary Service Unit for cases of qualified theft.
The employees were caught on CCTV footage stealing shoes from the confiscated items they retrieved from a demolished store in Toril, Davao City.
The video recorded the seven employees stealing shoes and putting it on their own bags while disposing of the confiscated items in front of the office of ASU in Magsaysay Park here.
ASU head Paul Bermejo said they have been receiving complaints from vendors about their lost items after the demolition team confiscated the products they were selling.
“This is not the first time that we have received complaints, however, it is the first time that we have a concrete evidence to verify the complaints,” Bermejo said.
Bermejo said on July 6, his attention was called by personnel of Magsaysay Park who were manning the CCTV owing to the actions of some of his employees.
“The vendor, who is a member of Badjao tribe also came to me after the incident. We immediately conducted an investigation and through that, we found out that the team really took the demolished items,” he said.
Asked if the ASU employees would face charges, Bemojo said there was some compromise agreement made with the dismissed employees.
“We let them choose between voluntary resignations or we will file charges against them and eventually they will be terminated. They chose the former,” he said.
Bermojo then reminded his employees to follow the standard procedure of their office and avoid committing the same mistake that can ruin their reputation at work.
The ASU’s standard procedure is to dispose of the demolished items three days after the demolition took place. Failure to claim the items will lead them to donate the items in the different centers of the city, he added.