By Genalyn D. Kabiling
Three Palace employees might face administrative complaints if they fail to give a satisfactory explanation about the reported irregular issuance of identification cards to journalists.
Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said he has issued a show-cause order to the concerned officials at the International Press Center in Intramuros, Manila amid an investigation into the supposed “breach of protocol” in the ID issuance.
The IPC, an office attached to the Presidential Communications Operations Office, drew flak for the glaring grammatical errors in the IDs issued to the Malacañang Press Corps.
“Basta iyong nasa show cause order natin ay kailangang patunayan na hindi sila kasuhan ng administrative case,” Andanar said. “I’m expecting one answer today, or about two answers today,” he said, referring to the officials asked to explain the recent incident.
Andanar admitted that he was dismayed by the latest blunder committed by the IPC especially since it was headed by a veteran government official. “Sabi ko sa kanila di…Sabi ko, alam mo ba na iyong ginawa ninyong kalokohan na iyan, sabi ko, it caused a national controversy,” he said.
But Andanar claimed that he could not simply fire the concerned officials without giving them due process. He acknowledged that government workers are protected by the Civil Service Code.
