DAR employees hit union officers

Employees of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) have criticized their union leaders for "misrepresenting" them in a complaint filed against Secretary Hernani Braganza with the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC).

The DAR employees asked the PAGC to dismiss the complaint, saying it was not sanctioned nor approved by members of the 13,000-strong DAR Employees Association (DAREA).

They explained that majority of DAR employees in the central and field offices objected to the filing of the complaint filed by union president Violeta Bonilla because the accusations leveled against Braganza were "baseless" and "unfounded."

"The filing of the instant complaint is not a collective act of all members of the association as they were never consulted or at least appraised of the issues," the DAR employees said in a communication sent to the PAGC.

The DAR employees filed a motion for leave to intervene with the PAGC to allow them to participate in the hearings on the complaint.

"The unilateral filing of the complaint without prior consultation with all the members of the association constitutes a gross violation of their rights as members of the association," said the movants, led by senior agrarian reform program officer Ida Gaa.

The DAR employees claimed Bonilla and her supporters have failed to substantiate their allegations that the DAR management spent P50 million for the celebration of the 14th anniversary of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) last June.