Senate resumes probe on GOCCs

The Senate finance committee on Tuesday resumed its investigation on the government owned and controlled corporation (GOCCs), with the main objective of determining whether its officials received excessive perks and bonuses. The Senate committee summoned officials of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS), Local Water Utilities Administration (LWUA), Landbank of the Philippines, National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation (NHMFC), Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC), Philippine Export Import Credit Agency (PhilEXIM), Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO), Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR), Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management (PSALM) Corporation, and Philippine National Oil Company (PNOC). At the start of the hearing, finance committee head Senator Franklin Drilon revealed that MWSS board members received millions of pesos in compensation and bonuses even when the state firm lost P2.9 billion in 2009 and P3.5 billion in 2008. During last week's hearing, Drilon likewise revealed that each of the trustees of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) received P6 million in salaries and perks in 2009. The senator, however, said that each GSIS trustee only attends two meetings a month or 24 meetings a year, yet they get they get as much as P6 million in annual compensation. — Kimberly Jane Tan/RSJ, GMANews.TV