Employees of 94.7 Radyo ni Juan Davao express dissent to the sudden company closure and their dismissal from work by their employer, INFORM, at the height of the COVID19 outbreak.
In a statement, the group called the closure as bogus and with an insufficient basis; referring to the 677 sqm property in Shrine Hills, Davao City, and other properties located in Tagum, Digos, Kidapawan, and Cagayan as strong evidence of its adequacy.
They also exposed that INFORM offered an early retirement back in October 2019 with enough funds to pay for their separation fees, which for them, seemed questionable and conflicting to the idea of retrenchment and closure due to financial problems.
According to Efren Armilla, news director of RNJ Davao, employees even resorted to various loans after salaries were partially released by the finance office before the COVID19 outbreak. Many of them only received P1,000 to spend for two weeks, and receive the balance on the next payroll.
“Usahay maabtan na lang sa sunod nga kinsena, wala pa gihapon nakumpleto ang among sweldo sa niaging hugna. Naglisod mi og sustiner sa pagkaon sa among pamilya, ug ang sagad kanamo nalubong na lang sa utang tungod dinhi na nag-agad aron makalahutay sa mga adlaw nga dili na mopaigo ang partial salary nga gitagana sa kumpanya,” Armilla said.
He also emphasized that the employees’ benefits were deducted from their salaries, but were not laid to respective government offices. This has worried them, especially that they had a colleague who has about to give birth at that time.
Jerome Buyco, an ex-employee of INFORM then exposed the unpaid sales commission by the management. In some cases, commission worth almost a hundred thousand were kept and hold by the company for years. Also when the employees were transferred to another company, they weren’t provided with their separation pay.
The INFORM-Radyo ni Juan Davao employees challenged INFORM Executive Vice President Grace Uddin, Human Resource Officer Daisy Gonzales and President Sr. Conception Gasang jr in an immediate negotiation for the last time, as they were said to be the main orchestrators of the Closure and Dismissal.
Inform Resource Management, Incorporated or INFORM is an affiliated of Rizal Memorial Broadcasting Corporation and was permitted to manage and operates four RMCBC’s Radio Frequencies located in Tagum, Kidapawan, Digos and Davao City under the brand name of Radyo ni Juan before its Shutdown.
(Efren C. Armilla/ Michael Manguhig)