Villa says 'abuse of authority' plaint against her "baseless"

MANILA, Philippines — Cebu City Health Department (CCHD) officer Dr. Daisy Villa has responded to the allegations of abuse of authority against her, saying the memo she released where the complaints stemmed from was “poorly worded” and was misinterpreted.

Last Wednesday, August 21, 2024, Villa’s response to the allegations lodged against her through the Civil Service Commission (CSC) was transmitted before the Cebu City Council. The complaint became the primary subject of a privilege speech delivered by Councilor Mary Ann de los Santos, and was also basis for the council to request for Villa to give her response to the legislative body.

The complaint filed against Villa was reportedly due to the memo she released last April 18, 2024, regarding the off-duty entitlement of midwives after a 24-hour shift.

The letter was addressed to Faberna U. Salumbides, Director IV of the Public Assistance and Information Office dated August 9, 2024.

The first memorandum that Villa issued reads that if a midwife “on 24-hour duty does not deliver a baby during their shift, they are not entitled to off-duty time the following day.”

“Upon careful review, it has come to our attention that the issued memo may have been poorly worded which can be subject to misinterpretation, it did not convey the right intention regarding the off-duty entitlement of midwives after a 24-hour shift in the birthing center,” read an excerpt of Villa’s response.

The same letter further said there was no intention to deprive the midwives or any personnel of the CCHD of their mandatory time off or rest day.

Villa added that the protocol being followed, and scheduling of shifts of the personnel in birthing centers has always been in consonance with the Department of Health's (DOH) standards.

She stressed that they have to ensure that patients and expectant mothers are provided with immediate and proper health care from the time of their admission and assisted by an accredited and well-trained midwife during birth delivery.

In this sense she added, all CCHD-accredited birthing centers are open 24 hours daily.

Villa also explained that initially, all midwives were doing eight hours shift in accordance with the CSC Memorandum Circular No. 21, series of 1991 or Policy on Government Working Hours for Government Officials and Employees which provides; “all government officials and employees are required to render eight working hours a day for five working days a week or a total of 40 hours a week, exclusive of time for lunch."

“This scheme is effective to maintain enough manpower specifically midwives who are trained to assist the pregnant women in labor. This longtime shifting practice allows each midwife to cover the full 24-hour period without interruption,” read another portion of Villa’s letter.

But during the first quarter of this year, Villa said the midwives accordingly expressed their preference to render their services on a whole 24-hour shift. She added this was to maximize the manpower resources saying that the proposed schedule would be more convenient for them for various reasons.

This request was initially declined due to several concerns. Among those concerns that Villa cited were understaffing on subsequent days, saying that they would need immediate time-off to recuperate after assisting a delivery.

She added that even if there is no birth delivery or patient in the birthing centers, the office would be constrained to provide compensatory overtime credit once their work was extended to more than the regular 40 hours in a week despite being able to rest during their shift because there is no admission.

“However, due to noticeable poor accomplishments, the memo in question was issued, stating that Midwives who have zero Normal Spontaneous Vaginal Delivery (NSVD) or no patient to take care at all during their 24-hour shift can extend their duty the next day in exigency of public service subject to a compensatory overtime credit provided that it is in excess of the 40-hour regular work week provided further that the schedule was authorized,” the letter further reads.

According to her, this scheme is to adequately provide a sufficient number of midwives who will be on duty during regular working hours in health and birthing centers.

However, if there is one or more NSVD case recorded or a patient attended to in the birthing center during their shift, they will automatically be entitled to a time off the following day.

“It is important to point out that the 24-hour work scheme were requested by majority of the midwives assigned in birthing centers who preferred a lesser number of working days instead of the regular five (5) days a week to enjoy their long day offs as it clearly appears on their daily time record (DTR),” it said.

With this, Villa said that the filing of the anonymous complaint is “baseless, groundless”.

She added that the issue at hand has been blown out of proportion since the aggrieved employee could have sought immediate relief by opening the concerns directly to the head of the office instead of the CSC.

“We admit that the issued memo was incorrectly phrased, hence it provided a different interpretation far from which it was intended, this office sincerely apologize for the inconvenience it has brought to the affected personnel,” she said. (CEBU NEWS)