MANILA, Philippines - The top post in the Philippine Coconut Authority (PCA) is vacant anew after the agency’s governing board unanimously decided to oust administrator Avelino Andal, more than two weeks after he reassumed his position.
PCA board member Conrado Capa told The STAR the six-member board decided to officially remove Andal even if he had announced that he was back in the agency.
“He’s gone. It is within the powers of the board to remove him as the administrator because of loss of trust and confidence. But he is still serving as a director since no one can remove him, considering he is a presidential appointee,” Capa said.
The board is now moving toward Andal’s removal from the PCA governing board after it issued a resolution recommending to President Duterte that Andal be totally terminated.
Andal was earlier placed under investigation for the alleged illegal collection of P1.50 per board foot of coconut lumber harvested in some areas, which could reach up to P90 million in illegal fees.
The resolution has been submitted to the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corp. (GCG) and was signed by Cabinet Secretary and PCA governing board chairman Leoncio Evasco and four other board members.
The GCG will then pass it on to the Presidential Management Staff headed by Special Assistant to the President Christopher Go and wait for Duterte’s final order.
Once approved, the President will give the green light for the re-election of a new PCA administrator, which would come from the members of the PCA governing board.
But Capa could not provide a timeline as to when the President may decide on the matter, as well as when there will be a new PCA administrator.
“We don’t know yet. Cabinet Secretary Evasco is still waiting for the decision. For now, we have an officer-in-charge (Glenn Santos). So, the Board and PCA itself is functioning,” Capa said.
Andal earier told The STAR that he is “discharging the duties and responsibilities as administrator of the PCA, considering that there is no legal impediment.”
“The whole time that he was here, nobody honored him and his decision. He occupied the office illegally. He did not leave and he did not go home. He just stayed in his office, he slept there,” Capa said.
“He even called Landbank saying he is still the administrator and that all checks should be signed by him. Landbank did not honor the text messages and calls of Andal,” he added.
Right now, Capa said the whole seventh floor of the PCA building in QC, which is allotted for the administrator, has been padlocked.
He added that Andal left the office last May 30 after being called out by the GCG.
Andal said that he is considering filing of civil, criminal and administrative charges against Evasco and the PCA board before the Office of the Ombudsman.
“There are no possible cases, no grounds. We don’t see any legal case because we based our decision on the very law that created the Governing Board. It is part of our job,” Capa said.