SC affirms retirement of recalcitrant Marawi schools superintendent

COTABATO CITY --- The High Tribunal upheld with finality a court ruling that the overstaying Marawi City schools superintendent has reached the mandatory retirement age.The recalcitrant education official, Mona Macatanong, had earlier sued officials of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) for replacing her after she turned 65 on October 18, 2013.Macatanong, an ethnic Maranaw, had insisted that the date of birth indicated in the government personal data sheet she filled out when she first applied as a public teacher was erroneous, short of about two years.Macatanong, backed by some 20 subordinates, mostly relatives, stayed on and refused to recognize the retirement order issued in 2013 by the Department of Education-ARMM.The DepEd-ARMM has jurisdiction over public schools in Marawi City.A copy of last week’s Supreme Court ruling, obtained on Thursday from the DepEd-ARMM indicated that the High Tribunal junked Macatanong’s motion for reconsideration of an earlier decision by the Court of Appeals terminating her service for having reached the mandatory retirement age.The standoff in the leadership of the Marawi City Schools Division had caused backlogs in the appointment and promotions of teachers and senior education officials in the area.