PIA execs oppose chief's reinstatement

Several regional and division heads as well as some employees of the Philippine Information Agency (PIA) have urged President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr. to remove Director General Ramon Cualoping III from his post.

In their statement dated July 22, the PIA executives and the PIA Employees Association stood by their petition against the reinstatement of Cualoping as they also called on the latter to step down as the agency's director general under the Marcos administration.

"We intended this petition to be treated internally and with due process, hence we addressed the matter to the appropriate departments," they said.

"We will not stake our names, career positions and reputations by making false allegations against a government official who has always brandished his strong ties with the powers that be," they added.

Cualoping took his oath of office on July 7, 2022, marking his third year in the agency.

In an earlier petition, the employees as well as the regional and division heads stressed that Cualoping supposedly has no concrete accomplishments contributed to the PIA.

They said Cualoping's banner #ExplainExplainExplain was only a hashtag provided for communication channels and platforms, "which are no stranger and were all being used by PIA since time immemorial."

They added that Cualoping had supposedly claimed that he had initiated the agency's five-year roadmap and agency restructuring plans, however, they insisted that these plans are "brainpower" of the regional and division chiefs.

"This is just one of the lies and credit grabbing tendencies of Mr. Cualoping. Mr. Cualoping downplayed the significance of regional offices through his belligerent strikes on some regional heads and other personnel without considering their valuable efforts. This magnifies his twisted behavioral integrity as a leader," they said.

Further, they emphasized in the petition that PIA has been challenged with a P52-million disallowance as a result of a special audit conducted by COA.

The agency is also facing questions over P206 million discrepancies in financial books for Plant Property and Equipment, the employees added.

In the petition, it was noted that the concerned divisions had initiated and invited COA for a four-day seminar which aimed to address the P206 million discrepancies, however, the petitioners said Cualoping did not show up in the seminar.

"We have served under previous Directors General and we have been flexible to their individual and distinct leadership styles in carrying out the Agency’s mandates," the employees said in the latest statement.

"But we draw the line when we see abuse of power and authority and unlawful practices that breed corruption. We will not close our eyes to misuse of government resources and brazen display of power. These are our non-negotiables," they added.

GMA News Online has reached to Cualoping for comment regarding the PIA officials' latest statement but he has yet to reply as of posting.

The news outfit also reached the Palace for its statement regarding the issue.—LDF, GMA News