Drilon to Aquino: Fire PNCC execs for not remitting P2.3-B

President Benigno Aquino III should replace the officers and board of the Philippine National Construction Corporation (PNCC) for their failure to remit at least P2.3 billion to the national coffers, Senator Franklin Drilon said Thursday. Drilon said the PNCC, a government-controlled construction firm and one of the country’s biggest, has failed to remit at least P2.3 billion in toll revenues from the North Luzon and South Luzon Expressways despite a 2007 Supreme Court decision ordering it to do so. "I urge the President to now appoint a new board because apparently the PNCC officers and board are not following the decision," said the senator, who heads the Senate finance committee. Republic Act 7656 requires government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) to declare their annual net earnings and remit at least 50 percent of this income as cash and stock or property dividends to the national government. Drilon expressed outrage that despite their non-remittance and violation of an SC decision, the principal officers and board of directors of PNCC have enjoyed total bonuses that amounted to more than P58 million in 2009 alone. "If you want to know the meaning of plunder, this is it," he said. Drilon had initially conducted a series of hearings on the alleged perks and unwarranted bonuses of GOCC executives. But he said he doesn't have the time to investigate the PNCC further. "I just don't have the time. Maybe when we have some time in the first quarter [of 2011] we will look into it again," he said. Drilon is also heading the series of hearings on the proposed budget of the different government agencies for 2011.—Kimberly Jane T. Tan/JV, GMANews.TV