Yap to sue MCIAA board for his termination

Dismissed airport general manager Adelberto Yap yesterday broke his silence accusing the members of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority board of being puppets and vowed to take the issue of his dismissal to court.

Yap said that he already informed President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo through emissaries about his termination from the airport, which he claimed have affected the preparations for the upcoming Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit in December.

Yap said his lawyers are already studying what legal actions to take against the members of the board for "illegally" terminating him. Yap reiterated that the MCIAA board has no authority to terminate him adding that there is also an existing temporary restraining order issued by the Court of Appeals that enjoins his removal from his position.

According to Yap, it was unfair for him to be terminated without hearing his side on the charges of irregularities. The board has supposedly given Yap five days to answer the charges against him but he said that before he could answer it he was already terminated.

"I have not received anything. How could I answer now," Yap told DYLA.

Yap said part of his options is to go to Congress and lobby for amendments in the MCIAA Charter such that the board could no longer dictate on airport operations.

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, one of the members of the MCIAA board, earlier said that the adhoc committee that they have created to investigate the alleged irregularities committed by Yap will continue its probe even if he was already terminated.

The result of the investigation would be used as basis by the board for possible filing of criminal case against Yap. But, Yap said he is not afraid of it.

"Di man ko mahadlok. I had been incarcerated during martial law," Yap said.

Yap said he was surprised why the members of the MCIAA board suddenly went after him when all transactions that he entered into has been approved by the board. He accused the members of the board of being "puppets" by some politicians whom he said has manipulated them but refused to give details.

He also clarified that his plan to file charges against the members of the board because of his termination is not to regain his position but to clear his name.

"I just want to clear my name," Yap said.

MCIAA alternate chair and Department of Transportation and Communication assistant secretary Nilo Jatico refused to dignify Yap's allegations saying that what is important is that the "impasse is over."

Jatico however denied that the ASEAN preparation has been affected by the termination of Yap.

"MCIAA is now in good hands," Jatico told DYLA.

He added that preparations are smoothly going on under the supervision of the acting general manager Romeo Bersonda.

When sought for comment, Governor Garcia said she would rather choose not to dignify "the ranting of a guilty mind."

She said that while Yap could speculate all that he wants, they at board will just continue to do what needs to be done and carry it right and properly, as expected of them by the public.

She said Yap still has the chance to answer, adding that termination of his services from the airport does not exonerate him from the charges he is facing. - Fred P. Languido and Cristina C. Birondo