THE transition committee of Gov.-elect Arnold I. Palacios and Lt. Gov.-elect David M. Apatang has asked Education Commissioner Alfred B. Ada to grant administrative leave and not annual leave to Public School System employees that will take part in the transition process.
Asked for comment, Ada said, “As per my conversation with transition committee Vice Chair Claudio Norita on Dec. 16, we agreed that administrative leave will be given and a reimbursement for time allotted for the staff that are federally funded. This issue has already been resolved.”
Committee Chairman John “Liling” S. Reyes said Title 1 Section 6906 of the Commonwealth Code requires “any Commonwealth government employee designated and appointed to the transition, be available to the transition committee, as the governor-elect requests….” These employees “shall continue to receive the compensation provided pursuant to the law for regular employment and shall retain rights and privileges of his or her employment without interruption [and] without prior application for annual leave.”
According to Reyes, the Commonwealth “benefits in having a seamless transition of democratic government, which is the singular purpose and intent of the work and function of the transition committee.”
This “ultimately benefits PSS, just as it does the Commonwealth as a whole,” Reyes added.
In the spirit of cooperation that Gov. Ralph DLG Torres has recently declared, Reyes said the transition committee humbly seeks PSS’s cooperation by granting administrative leave to PSS employees designated in the transition process.
Reyes assured Ada that the transition committee will provide accountability by recording the time of designated PSS staff during the transition period.
