Nawalan ng portfolio at inilipat sa Office of the Secretary si Trade and Industry Undersecretary for Consumer Protection Group, Atty. Ruth Castelo para bigyang-daan ang imbestigasyon sa kasong kanyang kinakaharap sa Office of the Ombudsman.
Ayon sa isang mapagkakatiwalaang source sa Department of Trade and Industry, nagdesisyon si Trade Secretary Alfredo Pascual na ilipat si Castelo sa kanyang pangangalaga para maiwasang mabahiran ng pagdududa ang gagawing imbestigasyon ng Ombudsman kay Castelo.
“Atty. Ruth Castelo was reassigned to the OSEC. Meantime, Assistant Secretary Jean Pacheco was designated OIC (officer-in-charge) of the CPG (Consumer Protection Group), so as not to impede its operations,” ayon sa impormante ng Dyaryo Tirada sa DTI.
“If Usec. Ruth stays with the CPG, there might be some allegations like unduly influencing or manipulating certain documents that were included in the complaint. The Secretary wants to be impartial and fair,” dagdag pa ng source.
Matatandaang si Castelo, kasama ang ilan pang opisyal ng DTI na sina Bureau of Philippine Standards director Neil Catajay; DTI-BPS officer-in-charge Ferdinand Manfoste; DTI-BPS Enforcement Team chief Engineer John Steven Magboo at kanyang mga team members Engr. Sarah Jane Arella, Alyssa Marie Frayre, and DTI-FTEB director Phillip Sawali, ay kinasuhan sa Office of the Ombudsman ni Jennifer Wingki Qua, presidente at manager ng Davao TYT Lucky Steel Corp. matapos na i-raid ang kanyang warehouse sa Barangay San Isidro, Bunawan District, Davao City noong 22 July 2023.
Kasong paglabag sa Section 3(e) of Republic Act (RA) 3019 o Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, administrative cases para sa grave misconduct, serious dishonesty, grave abuse of authority, at conduct prejudicial to the best interest of the service ang isinampa ni Qua laban kina Castelo.
Nakakompiska at sinelyuhan ng DTI team ang 176,497 piraso of Lucky Fence Tube sa naganap na raid.
Sa pamamagitan ng isang sulat kay Secretary Pascual noong 23 June 2023, kinwestiyon ni Qua ang nasabing raid at sinabing walang paglabag ang kanyang kompanya.
“Presently there is no applicable standard for fence tubes. PNS 2145:2000 is not yet in effect, and its implementation is scheduled for July 2024. Therefore, until this standard comes into force, there can be no violation of selling tubes with threads. Due to these reasons, the monitoring and enforcement actions undertaken by Usec. Castelo and her raiding team are downright illegal,” ayon sa sulat ni Qua kay Secretary Pascual.
