The CSSP FST Council released a letter announcing the suspension of CSSP FSTC Chairperson Nick Aguilar yesterday, 6 February 2022. The council has decided to suspend the chairperson due to an initial loss of council funds, a violation of Article 13, Section 3, Number 3, Negligence of Duty of the CSSP FSTC Constitution.
An anonymous complaint letter was submitted to Internal Affairs Officer Reian Dela Puerta during the 2nd General Assembly held last 28 January 2022. The complainant accused Chairperson Aguilar of failure to inform the council and constituents, failure in following and updating financial policy, and failure to reach a consensus of the council in creating an ad hoc committee.
According to the incident report, the chairperson assumed responsibility for the funds of the council through his GCash account. Last December 7, 2021, Aguilar was accosted and held up resulting in the loss of his phone. He was eventually unsuccessful in retrieving his GCash account containing the council’s funds and offered to pay any expenses out of his own pocket.
“The thieves have access to my Apple ID using the password I gave them to my phone. It was not a big issue since I just have to change it back using my other Apple Devices. Yet the large problem was that for a good amount of time, they had access to all my records, files, accounts, passwords, and PINs inside my iPhone and on the iCloud,” stated Aguilar in his narrative report to the CSSP FSTC.
The Council then formed an investigation committee spearheaded by Internal Affairs Officer Dela Puerta and overseen by Vice Chairperson Ishi Aguirre and CSSP Representative to the University Freshie Council (UFC) Gerry Caranzo to investigate the allegations against the Chairperson.
The committee made a decision after 3 investigation days.
As announced during the 3rd General Assembly held last 1 February 2022, the committee’s verdict is to suspend Chairperson Aguilar for 20 days beginning February 7 to 26, 2022, including non-working days.
Further details and documents of the investigation can be found on the CSSP FSTC Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/CSSPFSTCouncil/posts/4350856348348217
“In a push towards transparency, the council is releasing relevant documents from the case for public viewing. We highly encouraged fellow FSTs to read through these files,” the council announced.
The transparency report files can be accessed through this link: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1B3Ikc8L2E8QufvYCNAvk8PryFEK8O2_g?fbclid=IwAR0uMRcPkRmQcbX88KoeLRYJHLWb1igiKCTa6OHevjtoZ09hNg1LmBrSw2w
Vice Chairperson Aguirre assumes the duties and responsibilities of the chairperson during the suspension period.
Featured image courtesy of CSSP FST Council
