Arrest order out for UCCP bishop, pastors

THE Regional Trial Court issued Monday an order to arrest a bishop and two pastors of the United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) in connection with a complaint filed by four dismissed workers of the Ecumenical Broadcasting System Foundation (EBSFI)-radio station dySR of the National Council of Churches in the Philippines (NCCP).

Ordered arrested but with a recommendation for a P24,000 bail bond each were Bishop Erme Camba, former General Secretary of UCCP and EBSFI official, his brother pastor Mike Camba, of the UCCP church in San Carlos City, and EBSFI treasurer and pastor Ephraim Guerrero also an EBSFI official.

Nancy Ugsad-Estolloso, dismissed dySR station manager, Johngie R. Rumol, news director, David Bryan Cortes, news reporter, and a station technician Fred Paligsa accused the three UCCP officers of non-remittance of their SSS premiums since June 2000.

An initial report Tuesday said police failed to serve the warrant to Bishop Camba Monday.

The three UCCP bishop and pastors denied the allegation of non-payment.

The SSS complaint followed preliminary hearings of four offenses Estolloso, Rumol, Cortes, and Paligsa filed against the three men.

The Camba brothers and Guerrero are facing a charge of estafa for allegedly deducting SSS, Pag-ibig and PhilHealth contributions from her salary but did not remit them.

The complainants charged the three UCCP church leaders for failing to register them with PhilHealth, SSS and Pag-ibig.

The arrest order came as the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC) upheld last month the labor case the four axed employees filed against Bishop Camba and pastor Guerrero for unfair labor practice.

UCCP, the biggest protestant church organization in the country and a champion of human rights and fair labor practices, was dragged into the legal battle.

Ugsad-Estolloso and her co-complainants accused EBSFI, the broadcast arm of UCCP, of illegal dismissal, non-payment of her 13th month pay and back wages, diminution of her salary, and non-remittance of Social Security System (SSS) premium.

A series of preliminary conference failed to resolve the issue.

The internal conflict between EBSFI and the axed workers heightened in 2003 when the EBSFI board approved a request of Bishop Camba to re-organize its broadcast operation in Dumaguete on the ground that it is losing and that its manager is allegedly incompetent and has no experience and connections.

In the same request, the bishop expressed intent to resign as chairman of the Dumaguete Advisory Group of EBSFI if the board retained the manager.

But, in the same letter, Camba said he would demand that EBSFI would immediately pay all the debts he had incurred in running the station and the DYSR Retreat Center.

"But I would demand that EBSFI pay immediately all the debts I have incurred, P100,000 from Divinity School, P130,000 from the Institute of Religion and Culture, and a few other thousands advanced for small items," he said.

Further, the bishop said his wife Hermie would also resign, but EBSFI would also have to pay their P700,000 debts incurred to operate the retreat center.

The board resolution, said Ugsad-Estolloso, was approved without asking for her explanation.

On July 18, she said, the board appointed Bishop Camba chief executive officer of the EBSFI Dumaguete operation who subsequently issued a memorandum demoting the station manager to acting program and news director.