SHE didn’t see it coming.
In fact, Carmen C. Cabrera, head of the Women for the Babauta-Benavente team, admitted that she was “appalled” by Health Secretary James U. Hofschneider’s action when he decided last week to eliminate her position as accountant of the Division of Public Health and transfer her to the Department of Finance.
“He basically said a few words, handed me an envelope and said (that he is) happy to answer any questions (I) may have,” related Cabrera to Gov. Juan N. Babauta in a three-page letter dated June 5.
Cabrera then asked Hofschneider if it was her walking papers. Little did she know that indeed it was.
She said the memo was “at the very least, a nicer way of saying we don’t need you around anymore.”
She said she had to read on to discover “my fate and destiny that had been decided for me without consultation.”
“If you read through this memorandum, it really does not tell me much about what is to become of me. Well, I guess they could care less. This communication is solely to notify me of my transfer. It tells me where; however, it does not provide me with any direction. It does not tell me when I am to be transferred or to whom I shall report,” Cabrera informed Babauta.
Cabrera was the chairman of the subcommittee of the Babauta-Benavente Transition Committee that reviewed the performance of the Department of Public Health.
She also led the group that opposed Hofchneider’s confirmation. And she wants to know if this has something to do with Hofschneider’s decision to remove her from her post.
“I could only surmise that I probably don’t possess what this administration needs or that I had not lived up to its expectation. Could it be that this may be the result of a position/action I had taken regarding the secretary’s confirmation? Did anyone ever grasp at the message that was posed as a challenge to the department? Instead it was taken with retaliation,” she said.
With Hofschneider’s decision, Cabrera now wonders where his direction as health secretary would be.
“What about those before me and those who will come after me? I guess after all, I did not fit into his senior management team,” she said.
She told Babauta: Today, I sympathize with the doc for he probably had to swallow hard each time he laid eyes on me just because you wanted me to be part of this team (at least in the earlier times). Well, I guess Mr. Secretary of Health has finally found relief that I would not be around much longer.”
