Document: CIAC prexy highest paid GOCC exec

CLARK FREEPORT -- The president of Clark International Airport Corporation (CIAC) was the highest paid government-owned and controlled corporation (GOCC) executive in 2009, according to a classified document.

A copy of the document obtained by Sun.Star Pampanga showed that CIAC president Victor Jose Luciano received a basic salary of P2,253,000 or P187,750 per month, from January 1 to December 31, 2009.

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If the information was true, Luciano displaces erstwhile "topnotchers" Armand Arreza of the Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) and Clark Development Corporation's (CDC) Benigno Ricafort.

The same document showed that Luciano got a per diem of P438,000, aside from bonuses and incentives amounting to P387,852.94, and other benefits combined for a total of P3,259,698.94 last year.

Ricafort's P173,000 monthly pay and Arreza's gross monthly income of P130,888 pale in comparison to Luciano's, the source said.

The CIAC executive allegedly received other perks in 2009 like P79,346 in medical benefits and P33,000 in cost of living allowance, rice and care.

The source said it excludes numerous, "costly" travel allowances he and other CIAC executives get.

But Luciano simply shrugged off the allegations, saying the documents are not credible to pin him down as the highest paid GOCC executive.

In an interview, he said the documents should come from the Commission on Audit, which could verify the exact figures with regard to his compensation.

Allies of President Benigno Aquino III in the Senate blamed the administration of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for failing to curb the excesses by executives of GOCCs regarding “fat” paychecks.

Senator Franklin Drilon, whose Senate finance committee is looking into the alleged irregularities in government-owned firms, said Arroyo neglected her power to control, monitor, and supervise the excessive pay and perks enjoyed by top officials of state firms despite laws and executive issuances.

Drilon said that during a joint-inquiry into the fat bonuses, the senators found out that officials and governing boards of various GOCCs and government financial institutions (GFIs) "have been granting themselves unwarranted allowances, bonuses, incentives, stock options and other benefits."

Drilon cited that in 2009 alone, SBMA administrator Arreza received a total compensation of P26.8 million, that included P100,000 in transportation allowance, P1.8 million in gasoline allowance and P5.7 million in intelligence funds.

Arreza, the "top grosser" in government, also received total compensation, including fat bonuses, of P30.3 million in 2008 and P14.5 million in 2007, Drilon said.

On September 1, the Senate approved a resolution urging President Aquino to immediately suspend the "excessive" perks given to board members of government corporations and financial institutions.

Voting unanimously to adopt Resolution 17, the senators, at the same time, asked members of the boards of GOCCs and GFIs boards to turn over to their respective companies the millions of allowances, bonuses, and incentives they received from private corporations.

Drilon said President Aquino has the power under the Administrative Code to suspend the excessive bonuses of the board of directors or trustees of the GOCCs and GFIs. (Jovi T. De Leon of Sun.Star Pampanga/Sunnex)