The PTV Employees Association (PTEA) is appealing to the government to allow their newly installed general manager to implement reforms that target anomalies within the state network.
After being disregarded for almost a decade, PTV General Manager Analisa V. Puod has started to implement the order of the Commission on Audit (COA) against Officers-In-Charge (OIC) of the network.
The OICs are Alexander Poncio of the Engineering Department; Richard Valdez, OIC Station Manager of PTV Cordillera Station; and Maria Angela Gatan, OIC of Public Affairs and Programming.
“Our union is hoping to get the needed support from PCO (Presidential Communications Office) Secretary Cheloy Garafil and this is based on what we discussed during our meeting which has something to do with revamping our network’s middle management,” said PTEA President Florante Gacis in a statement.
Garafil had yet to react to the development as of press time.
Based on COA documents already sent to PTV, at least three OICs are being asked to pay an amount of P3,098,578.26 for overpricing the amount on retrofitting and restrengthening of the network’s transmission tower.
The OICs are also involved in another case of overpricing of over half a million pesos for the repair of their studio switcher, PTEA added.
Puod immediately sent out memos last Dec. 7 after getting hold of COA’s Order of Execution (COE) and Notice of Disallowances (ND), which COA sent to PTV in 2014 and 2015.
Puod’s memo has instructed PTV management to work on the payment within 15 days. It also included the private company Triex Inc., which served as the project’s contractor.
Puod also replaced Poncio as OIC of the Engineering Department, which is now being challenged by PTV Chairman Ben-Hur Baniqued and PCO Assistant Secretary Eugene Rodriguez.
“We got very low ratings from the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG) and this is because of the poor performances of our middle management. Even those members of the board who are holdovers of the past administration of President Duterte, they were given failing marks during the Directors’ Evaluation of the GCG,” said Gacis.
Gacis also believes that Puod is bent on adhering to the call of President Marcos to weed out corrupt people in the government. With Charles Dantes