Drilon files bill giving Noynoy temporary say over GOCCs

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Franklin Drilon has filed a bill that would temporarily delegate the power of Congress to reorganize and even abolish non-performing government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) to the President in order to put a stop to the excesses of their board of directors.

In a press briefing yesterday, Drilon said that Senate Bill 2566 would create a Governance Council for Government Owned or Controlled Corporations (GCG) that would serve as an advisory, monitoring, recommendatory and policy-enforcing body attached to the Office of the President.

It would be composed of the secretaries of Budget and Management, Finance and National Economic and Development Authority and two representatives from the private sector.

Drilon said that the GCG would review the charters of all 157 GOCCs in order to determine if their mandate is still valid, if their functions duplicate those of existing agencies or offices and if they should be merged or abolished.

The GCG would also be tasked to rationalize the pay structure of the GOCCs by developing a compensation and position classification system to be approved by the President.

Drilon said that the board of directors of the GOCCs would continue to receive per diems, enjoy reasonable reimbursements of transportation allowances and bonuses equivalent to not more than two months salary of the highest executive of the GOCC namely the chief executive officer or the president.

“This bill is the result of the hearings we conducted on the excessive pay of the GOCC board and executives and is designed to correct the malpractices we had seen,” Drilon said.

“Under SB 2566, once it becomes law, such excessive bonuses of the board of directors can no longer happen because their pay scale will all be rationalized,” he added.

Drilon explained that the power to reorganize the GOCCs delegated to the President would only be temporary, specifically for three years only.

“They will exercise legislative authority limited in a period of time and only upon certain standards. In other words, under certain jurisprudence, Congress may delegate its authority to amend the GOCC charter to the President, as we have done in this particular case,” Drilon said.