Anomalies at the NCIP

Stakeholders of this cash-strapped institution are wondering how Zenaida Pawid of the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), who is not even an appointed chairman of the NCIP, being only a chairman-designate, gets paid P133,000 a month or P26,654 more than the other commissioners.

They claim that Pawid violated the laws and jurisprudence when she insisted on getting P90,000 a month as chairman-designate when she should be paid only P78,946 like the other commissioners. She also gets representation and transportation allowance (RATA) of P22,000, extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses (EME) of P18,000 and cellcard allowance of P3,500 for a total of P133,500 every month compared to a commissioner’s take of only approximately P106,846 per month only.

Pawid has announced in forums and meetings that she is only a designated chairperson of the NCIP, not appointed, and therefore can be replaced anytime. She was appointed as commissioner representing Region I and the Cordilleras on Oct. 31, 2010. She was designated only, and not appointed as required by law, as chairperson of the NCIP on May 30, 2011.

The Supreme Court ruled in Santiago vs. COA that “there is a great difference between an appointment and a designation. While an appointment is the selection by the proper authority of an individual who is to exercise the powers and functions of a given office, designation merely connotes an imposition of additional duties, usually by law, upon a person already in the public service by virtue of an earlier appointment.”

In G.R. No. 122197, dated June 26, 1998, the following decision and opinions were upheld: “Designation is simply the mere imposition of new or additional duties on the officer or employee to be performed by him in a special manner. It does not entail payment of additional benefits or grant upon the person so designated the right to claim the salary attached to the position (COA Decision No. 95-087 dated Feb. 2, 1995).

Sections 40, 41 and 43 of the IPRA provide the appointment of seven NCIP commissioners in particular the “Appointment and Authority of the Chairperson”.

Insiders claim that Pawid resorted to pressure and machinations to get the salary of a regular NCIP chairman.

Morale at the NCIP is at its lowest in 15 years, NCIP officials and employees said. They add that Pawid disregards the salaries, loyalty pay and regular bonuses of personnel plus their travel per diems due to her ignorance of government policies and processes.

For one, she allegedly dominates field travels at the expense of personnel assigned to take care of delineation and titling of ancestral domains.

She also reportedly issues suspensions without due process, does not pay backwages despite Civil Service Commission rulings, and disapproves project proposals coming from the field in violation of the DBM and NEDA’s needs and rights-based planning.

A letter from concerned NCIP employees reads as follows:

“Pawid enjoys the perks of her own making. She cleverly gets the salaries and benefits of the position she was not appointed to. She cripples field work by personnel but she becomes a jetsetter. She made midnight reimbursements of her travels in lump sum at the late minutes of fiscal transactions. She dominates field travels in safeguarding her dictatorial control of the organization. Sacrificed are service oriented travel by duly mandated personnel that should accrue to the benefits and welfare of the indigenous cultural communities, especially on delineation and titling of ancestral domains. Veteran and well-trained agency civil and geodetic engineers begin to leave NCIP and transfer employment to maximize their profession.

“As Pawid delights in her freebies, she issues suspensions without undergoing diligent procedures, non-release of back wages to NCIP personnel despite Civil Service Commission rulings, disallows personnel for field work, implements personal activities only and disapproves project proposals coming from the field in violation of the DBM and NEDA’s needs-based and rights-based planning and budgeting.

“Agency operations are stifled and the indigenous cultural communities await in limbo while Pawid lurks in her filthy lair.”

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