Senate probe on ‘excessive’ salaries of govt officials sought

Senator Franklin Drilon has filed a resolution seeking an investigation into the reported excessive salaries and other unwarranted perks allegedly received by several government officials during the Arroyo administration. Drilon said his resolution will have the Senate committee on finance, which he heads, and committee on government corporations and public enterprises, headed by Senator Ralph Recto, to look into the matter. "These alleged excesses in the use of public funds have to stop. It's like rubbing salt to an already open wound," he said. The senator issued the statement after President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, in his first State of the Nation Address (SONA) last month, bared that the board of trustees of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) received millions in perks and allowances, including extra bonuses and even grocery provisions. Recto had also earlier revealed that the bonuses, salaries, overtime pay, and consultancy fees of state-run Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation (PSALM) are being passed on to the clients of the National Power Corporation (Napocor). "This seemingly anomalous situation has been going on for too long, primarily because of the powers vested in the boards of these institutions to determine and fix their own compensation and benefits," said Drilon. He said reports of excessive salaries and perks being received by public officials "exacerbate" the level of discontent of the public who are clamoring for decent pay. "How can we expect people to trust us when they see that top government officials are given bonuses left and right, yet we cannot even grant them (the people), their clamor for higher wages?" he said. — Kimberly Jane Tan/KBK/RSJ, GMANews.TV