Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno (left) and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla | PHOTOS: Senate PRIB and REUTERS/Eloisa Lopez
Former Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Felipe Medalla and Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno were among the highest paid officials of the Marcos administration in 2022, according to the Commission on Audit (COA).
State auditors published its annual report on salaries and allowances for the year on Aug. 2 and showed Medalla and Diokno topping the list with salaries, allowances and emoluments respectively totaling to P34.1 million and P28.8 million.
According to COA, Medalla earned a total of P9.3 million for his basic salary as the BSP governor for six months and as Monetary Board member for three months. He received a total of P24,000 for his honorariums; P11.8 million for his allowances; another P11.8 million for bonuses, incentives and benefits; and discretionary, extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses (EME) amounting to over P1 million.
Diokno, on the other hand, earned a total of P7.6 million for his basic salary both as BSP governor under former President Rodrigo Duterte and as finance chief under President Marcos.
He had the same amount of honorariums as Medalla. Diokno also received P7.2 million worth of allowances from both his tenures, a total of P11.5 million from his bonuses, incentives and other benefits, P89,000 listed as other of his emoluments and his discretionary/EME worth P2.19 million.
Top earners from BSP
The rest of the 10 top government officials were from the central bank, including Monetary Board member Anita Linda Aquino, with P26.3 million; Monetary Board member Victor Bruce Tolentino, P25.7 million; BSP Deputy Governor Chuchi Fonacier, P25.1 million; Monetary Board member Peter Favila, P24.4 million; Monetary Board member Antonio Abacan Jr., P24 million; BSP Senior Assistant Governor and General Counsel Elmore Capule, P22.4 million.
Also included in the top 10 were BSP Deputy Governor for monetary and economics sector Francisco Dakila Jr., P22.3 million; and BSP Assistant Governor Edna Villa, P20.9 million.
The audit agency’s report on salaries and allowances (Rosa) contains the total amount of salaries, allowances and benefits received by high-ranking officials of the government and released every year.
The COA, through its Corporate Government Audit Sector, compiles the Rosa submitted and certified by accountants of government corporations and national government agencies, and are verified by the agencies’ respective resident COA auditors.
SC justice in 15th spot
Rosa covers all secretaries of government agencies, their undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and other officials of equivalent rank, as well as principal officers and government boards of government corporations.
Listed in the 15th spot is Supreme Court Senior Associate Justice Marvic Leonen, who had a grand total of salaries and allowances amounting to P18.6 million while Chief Justice Alexander Gesmundo, placed at the 17th spot, had a total of P14.9 million.
Interestingly, resigned COA chair Jose Calida was also listed next to Gesmundo, who received a total of P13.4 million.
During his tenure as the Solicitor General, Calida was listed as the second top highest paid official under the Duterte administration when he earned P16.9 million in 2019, based on COA’s Rosa in 2020.