ISABELA CITY, Basilan, Jan 6 (PIA) – Manifesting its commitment to reform the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM), Regional Governor Mujiv Hataman has intensified its crackdown on “ghost employees” in the different departments under its jurisdiction.
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| ARMM Executive Sec. Atty. Malang meets with department heads |
The Bureau of Public Information disclosed that the crackdown commenced with a memorandum ordering the release of salaries to teachers be made exclusively via ATM accounts staring next month.
The report said that teachers in the ARMM and other employees in its education department will only be receiving salaries thru valid automated teller machines (ATM) bank accounts effective this February as the region’s present caretaker government intensifies its crackdown on ghosts.
Hataman said the move is intended to purge the Department of Education (DepEd) in the region of ghost teachers and employees.
He promised that the same measure will be imposed in other agencies in the ARMM, saying that “a valid bank account is one way of ensuring the existence of an employee.”
According to Hataman, the unavailability of ATMs in remote areas of the region is not a compelling reason to make exemptions.
He indicated that he is not convinced that teachers in far-flung areas won’t make a visit to a more developed town near them at least once a month.
The OIC governor is determined to impose the measure and appears to be unfazed by possible opposition from some employees.
Hataman has summoned regional and provincial officials of DepEd-ARMM to a meeting this week at the region’s seat in Cotabato City to discuss his marching order and other policies meant to address perennial issues in the department.
Alleged corruption issues have hounded DepEd-ARMM for years with controversies ranging from the non-remittance of the GSIS contributions of its employees to the uncovering of ghost teachers, employees and even ghost schools.
The appointed ARMM chief said he wants to personally deal with the issue of corruption in the department in the first 100 days of his administration.
“Gusto namin after 100 days tapos na ang problema namin sa ‘ghost’ [entities],” (We hope to end the problem on ‘ghosts entities’ after 100 days.) he said.
He shared his disappointment at a list that was presented to him during the course of their inventory of DepEd-ARMM’s personnel that apparently it does not contain enough information to verify the existence of teachers in the region.
Hataman said the list does not provide clear information on the teacher’s address and school assignment which make it useless in tracking them down.
Further, the former Anak Mindanao party-list representative has asked the region’s education officials to identify the schools covered by the approved P1-billion school building program for this year.
Hataman said there are schools in the region that have more than enough school buildings in relation to the total number of enrollees and teachers while other schools are in dire need of infrastructures.
“School buildings should be put up where it is needed most,” he said. (BPIARMM/RVC-PIA9 ZBST)
