By Jason de Asis

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, November 10, 2010-Senator Edgardo J. Angara, Vice-Chair of the Finance Committee calls for a new system for determining the salaries and allowances in the different government agencies in a recent Senate Committee on Finance hearing regarding the Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCCs) compensation.

“The hearing is the most recent development in the Senate inquiry which started in the beginning of the 15^th Congress into the unusually large salaries of the board members and top officials in various GOCCs,” he said.  

The Senator proposed the urgent creation of a separate body with the specific task of adjusting and regulating the numerous compensation packages to include the present GOCCs allowances and bonuses.

He said that under a certain amount of autonomy the GOCCs operates and therefore, a standalone, impartial unit is necessary to make sound decisions about the amount of compensation without compromising the GOCC’s independence.

Angara said that the government officials and board members’ salaries should be calibrated based on their performance and proprietary functions where he further explained that we cannot have a one-size-fits-all system for compensation, we have already seen this kind of system caused such huge inconsistencies, adding that to restore the public’s opinion in these government-run institutions they must strive to avoid further controversy. (Jason de Asis)