MS. MARIA FE A.

PINEDA
Chief Executive Officer
Sta. Catalina Credit Cooperative
Poblacion, Pres. Roxas, Cotabato

Thru: MS. GERALINE P. MORRELL

Operations Department Manager

Dear Madam CEO:

Greetings!

I have received the memo that was issued to me by the HR Head, Madam Elinor B.
Ang dated January 16, 2024. I personally felt that I was not only attacked by the
complaint lodged to me by Ms. Juliet Montano since you did not give me a copy of her
complaint letter if there is one, the memo sounded rather personal and bias on my
part as I felt attacked and already judged. However, I am respectfully writing my
response to a narrative that is twisted, fabricated and maliciously written to appease a
vile intention towards me and my 20 years of hard work and genuine service not only
to our institution but also towards our members and employees. Thus, here are my
answers to the following issues she had raised.

A.1) We all know that it is against every bank policy to do the

DEPOSIT/WITHDRAWAL transactions without money involve- which I certainly
know first-hand. I strongly deny this allegation.
A.2,4,5 and 6) To be clear I do not have a lending business to which MS.
MONTANO claimed to handle for me. I am well aware of the implications of
having one and I do not want to compromise my work thus, I did not attempt to
have a lending BUSINESS and never will I. In this manner, I cannot be charged
with abuse of authority and even conflict of interest.
A.3) JEANELYN NAMIA ROJO is my first degree cousin who approached me to
let her borrow certain amount of money as soon as possible. I let her borrow
Php 30, 000 in 2022 to which she personally offered to pay 5% interest for the
reason that she won’t be able to pay the money immediately. She is the ONLY
person I let borrow such big amount thus it was NOT a lending business. It was
a one-time thing which Ms. Montano happened to know because she used to be
a good friend of mine and sometimes, my cousin will pay her interest to MS.
MONTANO because mostly my work was out of town. So MS. MONTANO would
keep MS. ROJO’s payment. She would personally volunteer for this because we
were friends and she wasn’t doing it because I asked her as her boss. In that
context perhaps made her claim that she handled my so-called “lending
business.”
However, the receipts she used as “evidence” with that alleged lending business
was fabricated because I NEVER issued those receipts. I even only knew about
them through the memo served to me.
For Clause B: I believed this was already settled long ago in 2018. I personally
paid for the Php 1000 and Mr. Jun Mendegoria can vouch for that (see attached
statement) because neither of them did NOT and were NOT even forced to pay
for it. To the context that I acted superseding the Branch Manager, perhaps
they have failed to remember that I acted as the Branch Manager of the Main
Branch at the same time performing my duty as Area Manager from February to
July 31, 2018 and after I had my leave of absence for 3 months, I came back by
October and acted out as BM and CAM because NO ONE would accept the BM
position yet due to the demands of certain employees for an increase in salary
before accepting the position. But the heart of the matter remains that her
claims in this section are irrelevant because I settled this on their behalf.

For Clause C, D, E: The narrative of all the complaints for this section is a
typical, overrated story plot of a typical telenovela we all used to watch. My
physical features might look like I am a heartless, conceited and cold-hearted
person but this is something that I cannot help. I believe my track record in this
institution speaks highly of what I am as a person and as a leader. I do not
have an ounce of audacity to throw the words, “kung ako sa imo, hawa na lang
daan diri, hindi paghulata nga materminate ka kay indi teka undangan
samtang ara ka diri,” To what context could I say that to her? We do not have
this conversation that I could remember of and I am not someone who would be
texting vile words to someone. I find it unfair that the questions under this
clause are very insinuating when in fact everything thrown at me in this clause
could be taken as “her words against mine.” In addition, she did not serve as
my lackey in any way. As I have said, we used to be good friends and there were
two times that I asked her to withdraw money for me because I have to be
travelling in far branches early in that morning. These were all even under
emergencies. Unfortunately, what I fail to see is that, this can be twisted and be
used against me now. Furthermore, I never asked Ms. Montano to watch over
Marlo because I see no reason for me to do that. All her statements are lies and
twisted yet it seems this august body already made their minds to pin
everything to me.

For Clause F: In the context of the AIFA issue, no one was pinned to be
responsible in that incident because I personally took care of the problem and
we were able to resolve it (see attached file of the settlement.) Ms. Montano and
Mr. Mediana received a memo ONLY to remind them of their actions and
responsibilities. I do not see why they have to pin this non-existing problem on
me. Additionally, if I was too difficult to work with, all the bosses, former bosses
and employees I have worked with for 20 years could attest to that. After all, the
HR Office would probably have tons of complaints for me if I was this kind of
employee and I would never even reach this far if everything was true. For the
record, this is the very first complaint I have encountered in my entire stay in
Sta. Catalina.

In the issue of manipulations, I was not even involved in the complaints of Ms.
Adela Angus who happens to be the sister of our CEO. I have not known about
this until Mr. Marlo Balili on September 26, 2023 at 2:56 PM (see attached file)
 sent me the picture of the complaint and I had to sign on the incidental report
and submit it to the HR. I have no contact and I have not seen Ms. Angus
during this time. On the other hand, the issue between Mediana, Porcadilla
and Mosquera, was not manipulated by me. I have received the information of
the anomaly from the BM of Antipas Branch, Mr. Joemar Lavilla that Ms.
Mosquera had asked him to give her a bank statement without money. I was
only involved in this issue because I asked for the statement of Ms. Mosquera
without forcing her so that she would be able to shed light on the issue. A
written statement was submitted to me and I had forwarded this to the HR
OFFICE. Mr. Balili will not be giving his written statements but he is willing to
answer all the queries when the need aroused.

I do not wish to cause division and chaos among employees however, these are
inevitable because people’s actions have consequences and it’s in my job to
make sure that we are able to implement and put realizations what are
expected of us and even to our employees.

G. January 4, 2024, at around 3PM, Ms. Montano all of a sudden, went in my

office bringing my bank statement, the one that is attached on the memo She
went here with a very strong (angry demeanor). She immediately shoved the
bank statement in my face, asking TAMA-MALI ang DEPOSIT/WITHDRAW
TRANSACTION WITHOUT MONEY??? I was shocked with her actions and try to
be calm and asked her, ANO NAMAN NA JO? Pointing on the bank statement,
she then replied in an angrier manner, almost shouting and shaking, “IKAW,
AMO MAN NA IMO GINAHIMO.” I immediately hold her hand (I cannot
remember what side was that) but with my left hand, I hold her in the hope to
calm her down while saying “JO” it stopped there because she immediately
snatched her hand away from me and walked out after saying that “IREKLAMO
TA KA SA MANAGEMENT!” She left me shocked and shaking because I was
taken aback by her temperament. I did not tell anyone about what happened.

To make things clear, I do not have CCTV in my office. I did not do anything on
purpose to make that encounter violent and physical. When I touched her hand, it was
only in my attempt to calm her down and to avoid making scene since she was very
emotional. Though I must admit during that time my nails were long it might have
scratched her when she immediately snatched her hands when I touched her. As to
the findings in her medical certificate, I was also shocked because I remember only
touching her once in a very minimal period of time.

“A liar knows that he is a liar, but one who speaks mere portions of truth in order to
deceive is a craftsman of destruction.” In my 20 years of working here in Sta, Catalina,
I did not expect that one day, I would be subject to receiving a memo of the things I
did not say or do. I believe the position given to me would entail responsibilities that
would inevitably hurt employees I call friends or worse-case scenario, would build
walls and burn bridges of good relationships. I tried my very best to perform my duty
and responsibilities without burning bridges but I know, at the end of the day, I am
not the final say. With these complaints I wish to raise these inconsistencies and
issues also in hope to raise awareness in our institution:
1. Why is Ms. Montano able to get a copy of my Bank Statement without my
permission? Am I not entitled to the Data Privacy Law, RA 10173 of 2012? What
happened to protecting a member’s privacy regardless of all these accusations?
2. Why did the HR allow the use of this illegally obtained BANK STATEMENT to be
used as “evidence” when it is not even admissible to the court? Does this mean
our cooperative is willing to breach privacy laws?
3. Why is the memo too personal and emotionally constructed? Why is this
already accusing and judging me when clearly my side was not even heard of?
Am I being attacked personally?
4. Why did the HR allow to use PAST and RESOLVED ISSUES as far as 2018,
when they are the ones who have copies of memos and incidental reports? They
could have calmed down the complainant.
5. Why did I only receive this memo, 11 days after the complainant lodged her
complaint?
6. Why was I not given the copy of her letter complaint for me to be able to clearly
understand her accusations?