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Senate approves GOCC bill on second reading


The Senate on Wednesday night approved on second reading a bill that will create a body that will govern government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs). Sen. Franklin Drilon, principal author of Senate Bill 2640 or the GOCC Governance Act of 2011, told GMA News Online on Thursday that he expects the measure will also be approved unanimously on third and final reading on Monday. “The need for reforms in the government corporate sector in order to make it an effective vehicle in achieving social and economic progress becomes more apparent once we take into account the role that GOCCs play in our economy," he said in a separate statement on Thursday. SB 2640, which was created after a series of hearings on the excessive pays received by GOCC officials, seeks to create a Governance Council for GOCCs (GCG) that will monitor and serve as a policy-enforcing body for state firms. “The days when the GOCC boards can act independently of the national government are over. We are confident that once this bill becomes a law, the excesses and abuses we saw in the operation of the GOCCs will be a thing of the past," said Drilon. The GCG shall be responsible for determining the compensation, per diems, allowances and bonuses of the members of the board of directors or trustees of state firms. The body shall likewise implement the reorganization, merger or streamlining of GOCCs and recommend to the President their abolition or privatization. The GCG shall be composed of a chairman with the rank of a Cabinet secretary and two commissioners with the rank of undersecretary, all of them shall be appointed by the President. Under SB 2640, GOCC executives shall also be required to refund to the state firms they represent any excessive compensation and bonuses they received from private corporations GOCC trustees, directors and officers shall likewise be made liable for any profits they will misappropriate to themselves.— LBG, GMA News

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