“It was a forced resignation,” said Jerome Aldan, DPL’s former homestead division director.
Del Rosario was unavailable for comment.
Aldan said DPL human resources manager Peggy Salas informed him verbally to resign or be terminated without cause even though his contract was supposed to expire in September.
He said the other seven DPL employees received a similar “verbal pronouncement” from Salas.
Aldan said he tried to meet with Del Rosario to ask why they were being forced to resign, but he was told that the DPL secretary “could not talk” to him.
“It’s very odd that eight people were told to resign through scare tactics and intimidation,” Aldan said.
Last March, Aldan said he was designated CIP coordinator of DPL after serving the homestead division for over 12 years.
Those who submitted their resignation letters on July 4 were DPL executive secretary Norma Borja, Vince Castro of administration, Gloria Ramon of the homestead division, Anthony Benavente and Ike Palacios of the compliance division.
Two others — Alvin Joseph Cepeda of the planning division and Richard Santos from the claims division — resigned on July 10.
Aldan said the action of the DPL secretary might be “politically motivated.”
He said at least four new employees were hired by DPL and some of them are “closely related” to Del Rosario.
Aldan also noted that the internal investigation being conducted by DPL’s legal counsel regarding alleged irregularities in the homestead program is “one-sided.”
“The investigator, DPL legal counsel Braddock Huesman, and the two other witnesses, are all working for the DPL secretary,” he claimed.
Aldan said he has asked for the disclosure of the investigation’s result, but the DPL leadership refused to do so.
“If I did something wrong then show me what I did,” he said.
The Office of the Public Auditor has conducted a separate investigation and Aldan said he cooperated and provided ample information.
Taotao Tano president Greg Cruz, who wants “the recent commotion” at DPL investigated, said the firing of the eight employees is “a cover-up tactic of Del Rosario.”
“The current investigation and sudden forced resignation of eight employees do not adequately justify or address the ongoing controversies or internal investigations and it’s more likely that Mr. John Del Rosario is covering up for his own mistakes or illegal activities behind closed doors,” Cruz said.
Aldan said the homestead division continues to recommend qualified beneficiaries for the homestead program despite the moratorium issued by Gov. Benigno R. Fitial in April 2006.
There was no moratorium, he pointed out, because there was no directive, memorandum or any document signed by the governor to implement the moratorium.
“It’s only a press release,” Aldan said, adding that the moratorium applied only to the submission of new homestead applications.
Cruz said Taotao Tano will be pursuing its own investigation of DPL, public land leases, the awarding of homestead lots, and land exchanges between Rota and Saipan.
