COA: Remulla highest paid in Cabinet last year

MANILA, Philippines — Justice Secretary Jesus Crispin Remulla took home the biggest paycheck among the Cabinet members of President Marcos in 2023, latest report of the Commission on Audit (COA) showed.

Based on the COA’s “2023 Report on Salaries and Allowances” or ROSA uploaded on its website on May 2, Remulla received a net pay of P7.08 million last year, his first full-year term in the Department of Justice (DOJ). This was an increase of P6.6 million or 1,283 percent from the P511,308.00 he received in 2022.

Though Remulla started his term as justice secretary in July 2022, the COA, in its 2022 ROSA, noted that he only received salaries and allowances for three months that year.

As for 2023, the COA’s breakdown showed that Remulla’s net pay was for 12 months as DOJ chief. This included P3.34 million in basic salary; P738,720 in allowances; P598,868 in bonuses, incentives and benefits; P354,000 in discretionary and extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses (EME); P24,000 in additional compensation and honorarium; plus P2.02 million from “prior year’s adjustment.”

Remulla took the top spot from Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno who was relegated to sixth place with a net pay of P4.94 million in 2023.

Meanwhile, Science and Technology Secretary Renato Solidum Jr. got the second biggest pay in 2023, amounting to P6.06 million from P4.91 million in 2022.

Solidum took the second spot from Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Arsenio Balisacan, whose net pay was down to P4.59 million from P6.95 million in 2022, relegating him to 17th spot.

Appearing as the third highest paid member of Marcos’ Cabinet was Higher Education Secretary Prospero De Vera III with a net pay of P5.19 million from P5.10 million in 2022.

Coming in fourth spot was Labor Secretary Bienvenido Laguesma with a net pay of P5.13 million from P2.28 million in 2022, followed by Public Works Secretary Manuel Bonoan with P5.09 million from P2.37 million in 2022.

Meanwhile, the seventh highest paid member of the Cabinet in 2023 was Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella III with P4.93 million, followed by Energy Secretary Raphael Lotilla (P4.76 million), Information and Communications Technology Secretary Ivan John Uy (P4.75 million) and Foreign Affairs secretary Enrique Manalo (P4.71 million).

Meanwhile, the 2023 ROSA showed that Vice President Sara Duterte took home P558,000 as Education Secretary for 12 months, a jump from the overall P300,000 she received from June 30 to Dec. 31, 2022  in the same Cabinet post.

On the other hand, though included in the 2023 ROSA as secretary of agriculture for ten months (January to October 2023), the audit breakdown showed that President Marcos did not receive any salary, allowances or other pay for the post.

Marcos concurrently served as agriculture secretary since he officially assumed his presidency on June 30, 2022.

In November last year, Marcos officially appointed Francisco Tiu Laurel Jr. as his agriculture chief.

The ROSA showed that Tiu Laurel received a total of P418,181.75 as agriculture secretary from November to December 2023.

Majority of the Cabinet members’ net pay significantly grew in 2023 as they were compensated for the whole 12 months as compared to 2022 when the majority of them took office in the second half of the year.

However, none of the Cabinet secretaries made it to the top 100 highest paid government officials in the COA’s 2023 ROSA.

The COA’s overall list was instead dominated by executives of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, with its governor Eli Remolona Jr. emerging as the highest paid government official with a net pay of P35.48 million