Senate OKs GOCC bill on 3rd and final reading

Voting 18-1, the Senate on Monday approved on third and final reading the proposed measure creating a body that will govern government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs). Only Senator Joker Arroyo voted against the proposed measure. In his speech, Arroyo said Senate Bill 2640 gives a blanket authority for the mass layoff of the GOCC’s chief executive officers and directors. "I participated in the plenary deliberations of SB 2640 and even introduced amendments which the esteemed sponsor graciously accepted. I did so in the hope that the damages to be inflicted by the bill will at least be modulated," he said. He said there are 157 GOCCs and if each GOCC has 10 appointed directors, it will mean the 1,570 directors can be laid off anytime on the standards that will be laid down by the soon to be created Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG). He said this means that on the dock are the 157 CEOs of all government corporations except the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas but includes the crown jewels such as Land Bank, Development Bank of the Philippines, Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System, among others. "The CEOs and directors don’t have to be informed or removed, all that needs to be done is to appoint their successor, and pronto, their terms of office automatically end," Arroyo said. He added that the powers of the GCG exceed even that of the constitutionally mandated Civil Service Commission. Arroyo even labeled the GOCC bill as a patronage bill because “1,570 positions for directors will be in the altar for distribution. The prize catches – the 157 positions for CEO." "For these reasons, I had cast my no vote with neither bitterness nor rancor but with sadness. For these are the ways of politics," he said. Senator Franklin Drilon, author SB 2640, earlier said, "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." The proposed GCG will monitor and serve as a policy-enforcing body for state firms. 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. — RSJ/KBK, GMA News