Palace defends bonus system of GOCC execs

Presidential Spokesman Edwin Lacierda: Supportive. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines — The Palace on Wednesday defended the system on the bonuses of the officials of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs), saying it has a lower ceiling compared to that of the previous administration.

“Under the previous administration…the highest [compensation] you can get…is somewhere [in the range of] 1.8 million to 13.5 million pesos (a year) for a director. Under this administration, under the GCG (Governance Commission for GCGs) law…[the] highest a director can get…is only 3 million (a year),” Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said in a press briefing.

He said this includes the per diem received for every board meeting attended and a performance-based incentive.

Lacierda said the incentives or bonuses are calculated based on a performance scorecard, which lists down targets to be achieved by the GOCCs.

“Customer service…that’s part now of the performance scorecard,” he added, explaining that the GCG has included it to address the complaints of members of the Social Security System (SSS).

Lacierda said the GCG had already spoken to SSS and other frontline GOCCs like the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the PhilHealth on the inclusion in the scorecard of their performance in responding to complaints.

Asked if government officials like him find the large salaries and incentives unfair, he said they understand the “distinction” and do not “begrudge” their GOCC counterparts for it.

“There are also qualifications that are inherent and peculiar to a particular GOCC,” he said.

He said the scorecard is available on the websites of the GOCCs and the GCG for the public to see and scrutinize.

“GCG would also like to inform the public that they continue to improve the system of their scorecard. If there’s anything that you’d like to improve, feel free to inform them, feel free to write to gcg.gov.ph and to suggest other measures to improve the performance scorecard,” Lacierda said.

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