Rules are rules.
Robinson Viñas — a legal officer with the rank of Attorney IV of the Commission on Human Rights (CHR), which holds office in Diliman Quezon City — was found guilty of violating the smoking prohibition in government offices.
The verdict was given after a very long process of investigation.
Viñas’ fellow CHR employee, Edgardo Ulysses Dorotheo, had caught the lawyer smoking inside the toilet on Jan 27, 2014.
“Dorotheo said he reminded Viñas of the smoking prohibition within government premises and asked him to stop smoking. Viñas refused, prompting Dorotheo to take a photo of him using a mobile phone.
“In his complaint submitted to the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Dorotheo said Viñas violated the no smoking rule and displayed discourtesy when he was admonished for the violation,” reports Michael Punongbayan in The Philippine Star.
Viñas’ suspension took effect on Nov 16, 2015, and ended last week.
CSC chairperson Alicia de la Rosa-Bala explained that Viñas was found guilty of violating the CSC circular banning smoking in government offices. However, the accusation of discourtesy in the course of official duty against Viñas was dismissed.
In a statement, the CSC said, “It is within the CSC’s mandate to promulgate policies for the welfare and development of state workers. We urge government employees to heed the prohibition on smoking as this was meant to ensure a healthy and productive work force.”
