What Went Before: Aquino hit ‘excessive’ paychecks in Sona 2010

President Benigno Aquino III. AP FILE PHOTO

In his first State of the Nation Address (Sona), President Aquino denounced the “excessive” paychecks and lavish benefits received by the executives of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), saying that members of the MWSS board of trustees received P2.5 million annually apart from car benefits, technical assistance and loans.

“The entire payroll of the MWSS amounts to P51.4 million annually,” the President said in his July 2010 Sona, adding that MWSS executives received additional allowances and benefits amounting to P81.1 million. “In short, they receive P211.5 million annually. Twenty-four percent of this is for normal salaries, and 66 percent is added on,” the President said.

He added that board members who attended meetings got P14,000 and an annual grocery incentive of P80,000.

“And that’s not all. They get a mid-year bonus, productivity bonus, anniversary bonus, yearend bonus and financial assistance. They not only get a Christmas bonus, but an additional Christmas package as well,” he said.

Perks were not limited to board members. “The average worker receives up to 13th-month pay plus a cash gift. In the MWSS, they receive the equivalent of over 30 months’ pay if you include all their additional bonuses and allowances,” the President said in 2010.

In an interview in August last year, MWSS Chairman Ramon Alikpala said that until 2009, an MWSS driver received about P97,000 a month.

As a response, the President signed the GOCC Governance Act in 2011. Otherwise known as Republic Act No. 10149, the law ended the terms of all GOCC executives on June 30, 2011, and created a Governance Commission for GOCCs. Attached to the Office of the President, the commission has the power to review and reorganize the corporations, as well as fix the salaries, allowances, per diems and bonuses of board members.—Source: Inquirer Archives