AN engineer of the Oroquieta City Water District (OCWD) is looking at collecting P4.54 million after winning his compensation claim at the Commission on Audit seven years after being fired from his post as division manager on orders of the Office of the Ombudsman.
The COA Commission Proper granted the petition of former OCWD division manager Aljun John Berenguel for back wages, emoluments and other benefits due him after he was ordered dismissed on November 1, 2016 over criminal and administrative charges.
Berenguel challenged the Ombudsman’s decision that found him guilty of grave misconduct, punishable by removal from office; cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits, and perpetual disqualification from re-employment in the government.
Twenty months after losing his job, he won in the Court of Appeals which declared him innocent, reversing the Ombudsman’s ruling and dismissing the case against him. This CA ruling became final and executory on June 2, 2019.
On July 12, 2019, the Sandiganbayan likewise ordered him dropped as a defendant in two criminal cases, followed by a notification from the OCWD that he has been reinstated to his old position as division manager — Production and Water Quality effective September 21, 2020.
The ruling was signed by COA chairperson Gamaliel A. Cordoba and commissioners Roland Café Pondoc and Mario G. Lipana.
Upon returning to work, Berenguel filed his claim before the COA for unpaid salaries and benefits for the years that he was deprived of employment.
The OCWD sought clarification from the COA as to who should be required to pay Berenguel’s claim after the water district was forced to hire another engineer to take over the claimant’s functions, which means the agency would be made to pay double the compensation for the years relevant to the case.
It added the dismissal was only in compliance with the directive of the Ombudsman.
Regardless of the difficulties created by the wrongful dismissal of Berenguel, the COA CP said the OCWD should pay up.
“Being the employer of Engr. Berenguel, it is the OCWD that is responsible for paying this money claim. Full back wages are computed from the time Engr. Berenguel’s compensation was withheld up to the time of his actual reinstatement, or from the period of November 1, 2016 up to September 21, 2020,” the commission declared.
