CSC: Castro can return to Cebu City already

CEBU, Philippines - The Civil Service Commission (CSC) has ruled on the validity of the transfer of Assistant City Prosecutor Mary Ann Castro from the Office of the Prosecutor (OCP) of Cebu City to OCP-Talisay City.

CSC Chairman Francisco Duque III, however, said that the recent letter of Prosecutor General Claro Arellano recommending that the reassignment be made "permanent and full time is not valid."

"Thus, after the expiration of the one-year maximum period allowed for reassignment, Castro should be reverted back to her original place of work in the OCP-Cebu City," Duque said.

In 2012, Castro appealed before the CSC against Department Order No. 1056 issued by Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ordering her transfer to OCP-Talisay City from Cebu City.

She complied with the order; Arellano, however, also sent a letter to Cebu City Prosecutor Nicolas Sellon suggesting that her transfer be made permanent.

Castro then requested that she resume taking on her duties and functions as assistant city prosecutor (ACP) of Cebu City after the lapse of the detail period, applying the CSC Policies on Detail to her case.

In her comment on the case, De Lima said Castro was not detailed but actually reassigned to OCP-Talisay City.

De Lima said detail requires movement from one agency to another while reassignment just means transfer within the same agency.

"In the instant case, ACP Castro's movement from the OCP Cebu City to the OCP Talisay City is effectively a reassignment, as she was moved from one organizational unit to another in the same department. It must be emphasized that the OCP Cebu City and OCP Talisay City are both under the National Prosecution Service of  the Department of Justice. Considering that ACP Castro's transfer was a reassignment and not a detail, such transfer may therefore exceed the period of one year," the decision reads.

Duque said since Castro's reassignment has already lapse, she should be sent back to the OCP-Cebu City.

Castro was appointed as Prosecutor I at OCP-Cebu City by then president Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo in 2002. (FREEMAN)