Non-renewal of Legislative Bureau employee defended

Vice Speaker Timothy Villagomez defended on Friday the Legislative Bureau’s decision to not renew the employment contract of one of its personnel who is doing military service in Iraq.

Villagomez, who had been assigned by House Speaker Benigno R. Fitial to investigate the Legislative Bureau’s decision, maintained that the non-renewal of Peter Towai’s contract was justified.

According to Villagomez, Towai’s contract expired on Sept. 30, 2005; it was not terminated.

“The contract is not automatically renewable nor does it create any option to renew the contract,” he said. “Additionally, the contract does not require the bureau to give Mr. Towai notice of non-renewal of his employment contract. As a courtesy to Mr. Towai, the acting director sent a letter informing Mr. Towai that his employment contract will not be renewed upon its expiration.”

However, House minority spokesperson Ramon Tebuteb said Villagomez’s findings did not fully address the issue.

For one thing, he said, the explanation provided by the vice speaker did not jive with the reasons cited by acting Legislative Bureau director George Camacho for not renewing Towai’s contract.

In a Sept. 26, 2005, Camacho said the bureau had deemed Towai’s position redundant. He also said that the former administrative assistant for the bureau was being let go due “in part to staff reassignments, budgetary constraints, and operational needs.”

Tebuteb also appealed to the Legislative Bureau and the House leadership’s compassion. “It’s stressful enough to be sent to war and have to leave your family behind. How do you think will it affect our soldiers’ morale when they hear that they could lose their jobs too?” he said.

In his memorandum, Villagomez noted that the Legislative Bureau honored Towai’s employment contract while it was in effect.

During the entire period that Towai was absent from his job due to his deployment, the employment contract and the terms and conditions—including applicable employment benefits—remained in existence, he said.

Villagomez reported that in January 2005, Towai was paid the 15-day mandatory military leave in accordance with law. After this, however, Towai was on leave without pay because he had exhausted all his accrued annual leave.

“As such, the employment benefits he was enrolled in would have continued upon the payment of the premiums or contributions during the pay periods that Mr. Towai was on leave without pay,” Villagomez said.