GSIS says ex-Ombudsman Gutierrez not qualified as board member

Former Ombudsman Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez takes her oath as GSIS board member before Executive Lucas Bersamin on April 28, 2023. (File photo from the Facebook page of the Presidential Communications Office)

MANILA, Philippines — Former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez “is not qualified” to sit as one of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) board members “at the time of her appointment in April last year,” the agency revealed.

Citing a letter addressed to Executive Secretary Lucas Bersamin dated April 11 this year, GSIS President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo Veloso said they made the “legal conclusion” about Gutierrez, after discovering findings related to “a whistleblowing complaint” against her.

“I respectfully submit to you the findings of the Government Service Insurance System (the ‘GSIS’) in relation to a whistleblowing complaint, which claimed that Trustee Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez failed to possess the mandatory qualifications required by the GSIS Charter (RA. No. 8291) when she was appointed to the GSIS Board,” Veloso said in his letter.

Veloso said this complaint came from an anonymous sender via email last March 28.

This tip, he said, prompted him to request the GSIS Core Business Sector for copies of the trustee’s relevant records related to the agency.

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In November last year, President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced that Gutierrez will continue to sit as among the board of trustees of the GSIS.

She was named to the GSIS board in an acting capacity in April of the same year.

She previously served as Ombudsman in the Arroyo administration but resigned during the term of former president Benigno Aquino III after having been impeached on charges related to corruption cases.

INQUIRER.net is reaching out to Gutierrez to comment on the issue.