IN LIGHT of recent reports about Port Authority of Guam employees getting away with evading federal regulations, Sen. Tom Ada, transportation committee chairman, will be conducting an oversight hearing tomorrow on Port “facility and personnel protocol.”
Variety first reported earlier this month that a Patrick J. Sablan was hired in October 2011 as a cargo laborer with PAG, even though he didn’t possess a TWIC card because he is wanted in Washington on theft and forgery charges stemming from two incidences in October 2007.
It was further reported that Sablan is the nephew of PAG Deputy General Manager Anisia Terlaje, who allegedly authorized his employment. Sablan was a former term laborer and supply clerk who failed a drug test and was forced to resign, according to Variety files.
A TWIC card is an identification card mandated by the Maritime Transportation Security Act that all Port employees are required to possess.
Now, another case involving the lack of a TWIC card has been uncovered.
According to a source who requested anonymity, former Guam Fire Department Firefighter Troy Santos was hired by the Port Authority as a stevedore even though he does not have a TWIC card. The source said Santos was forced to resign at GFD for failing a drug test.
GFD spokesperson Lt. Ed Artero yesterday said he was aware of Santos’ employment situation but that he had left the fire department years ago. He could not verify whether Santos failed a drug test or if he was hired at PAG because it was too late in the day to verify with GFD’s human resources department. Santos said he will verify with GFD’s HR division today on the condition of Santos’ employment.
Last Wednesday, PAG Board Chairman Dan Tydingco ordered PAG General Manager Mary Torres to petition either the Civil Service Commission or Department of Administration to conduct a third-party audit of all PAG personnel files and folders to determine how many of its employees were hired without the necessary security credentials.
The oversight hearing will begin at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow at the Legislature’s public hearing room.
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