No total revamp of department heads in Capitol — Gwen’s lawyer

CEBU CITY, PHILIPPINES—The executive department in the Capitol will be a mix of new and old faces once Governor-elect Gwendolyn Garcia officially assumes office.

Lawyer Manolette Dinsay, a member of Garcia’s transition team, said some of the current department heads of the Capitol would stay despite the start of a new administration.

However, Dinsay said the team and Garcia were still on the process of finalizing the list of the heads of the different offices in the Capitol.

“Definitely naa may magpabilin. Mao lang na’y wa mi mahibawo [who will stay] because that is part of the finalization and that will be made in a formal announcement by the governor,” Dinsay said in an interview on Wednesday, June 26.

During Garcia’s first day of office on July 1, Dinsay said the incoming governor would hold regular department heads’ meeting that would be done every Monday morning.

“As long as no announcement has been made on who will stay or not, they will have to attend. If the governor will make the announcement and they are part of it, then they will have to attend,” Dinsay said.

He added that the transition team had yet to tackle about department heads appointed by outgoing Governor Hilario Davide III who holds permanent regular positions.

Among these are Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and  Management Office Head Baltazar Tribunalo, General Services Office Chief Jone Siegfred Sepe, and Anti-Drug Abuse Office Chief Carmen Remedios Durano-Meca.

However, the job order and casual employees have been told that on July 1 only those offered new contracts will only be the ones to be at the Capitol.

Read more: Garcia’s lawyer to JOs, casual employees: Do not report on July 1 if not given new contract

Dinsay said they had not asked the appointees of the current administration to render courtesy resignation.

“Wala na mahisgutan [to ask them to submit courtesy resignation] pero kung ila nang intention, if they think that is the proper way, they may do that,” Dinsay said.

(We have not discussed if we will ask them to render courtesy resignation, but if that is their intention and if they think that is the proper way, then they may do that.)

Garcia, in earlier interviews, said she tasked her transition team to evaluate the performance of Capitol employees, from Job Order level up to the department heads — to assess who would stay and who would have to leave their posts in the Capitol./dbs