By Jason de Asis

SENATE OFFICE, Manila, November 9, 2010-The Senate Finance Committee panel has approved a measure which seeks to rationalize the operations of government-owned or controlled corporations (GOCCs) to stop the reported abusive practices by the various governing boards.

Senator Franklin Drilon who authored Senate Bill 2566 and as well as the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee said that the days when the 157 boards can act independently once they have passed the bill into law.

Drilon is confident that he would be able to have this measure passed in the Senate after a hearing on the proposed legislation saying that we are confident that once the bill becomes a law, the abuses that we saw on the part of the GOCCs will no longer bepossible.

Finance Secretary Cesar Purisima, Budget Secretary Florencio Butch Abad, Civil Service Commission Chairman Francisco Duque III, Deputy Government Corporate Counsel Elpidio Vega and the Commission on Audit have unanimously endorsed the bill’s approval during the hearing. They consider it as timely and relevant given the abuses committed by the directors, trustees and even employees of public enterprises.

The Senate is scheduled to ask President Benigno C. Aquino III to certify the measure as urgent to enable its approval. The Palace’s certification would pave the way for simultaneous second and third readings on the same day, since the normal procedure would have been a three (3) day interval in between approvals.

The result of a series of hearings on the unwarranted salaries and perks received by governing boards and employees of state-run enterprises mandates a new compensation system for directors, trustees and employees of GOCCs, adding that the governing council for the GOCCs which will be created under the proposal will have the delegated powers of Congress to reorganize the various boards and to set compensation for the directors and employees, subject to the President’s approval. (Jason de Asis)