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Saturday, September 27, 2003
GSIS gets flak from angry gov’t workers
By Clara Mae Hortelano
THE consultation-dialog Friday between top officials of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and local government employees from various sectors to shed light on different issues hounding the agency became a tense affair.
The members aired their complaints to GSIS officials, who, on the other hand, answered the queries despite contempt and invectives from government employees.
The supposed consultation-dialog initiated by Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella, should have started at 10 a.m. but the employees waited for GSIS President and General Manager Winston Garcia who arrived past 11 a.m.
The conference was held at the Barangay Hall of the Provincial Administration Center, Bacolod City.
Government employees showed a collective air of dissatisfaction with the answers of GSIS top officials on the alleged misuse of funds and mismanagement within the agency.
Despite their effort to present to the members that the GSIS acquired P32 billion net income and the reforms being undertaken at GSIS, the members appeared apprehensive and distrustful.
The members demanded, among others, the immediate release of government employees’ maturity benefits, implementation of previous GSIS policy loans, non-increase in member’s contribution, investigation and prosecution of erring GSIS officials and the employees’ representation in the GSIS Board.
During the forum the members also questioned the billions of net income of GSIS when they cannot even grant the loans of their members.
The members also remained doubtful on the reasons given by GSIS that the four-month suspension of releasing of salary loans was due to the present computerization program.
Garcia, on the other hand, disclosed that the reforms that they are undertaking right now aims to save the agency on the possible collapse of GSIS within five years.
“If we will not have the reforms and continue the old ways, in five years time GSIS will collapse,” Garcia said.
The reason why we are doing the reform, he added, is to improve the system to prevent the leakage that will happen in the future.
Garcia further noted that the old system was very inefficient and it caused losses to the GSIS’ entire system.
He also said they are willing to correct the imperfection in the system and in fact are doing everything to give the members a brighter future.
“We are appealing for the members to bear with us in the reforms in the GSIS in order to maintain the longer existence of the company,”’ he said.
He also added they are trying to properly match the benefits received by the members and the premiums being contributed by the government offices where they are employed.
Garcia, on the other hand, said that with the new system, they have allocated P700 million for the computerization or technical adjustments of GSIS.
He noted that they have only spent P250 million so far of the entire budget.
“We hope that our members will bear with us for the computerization system,” he said.
On the other hand, Joselito Roldan, GSIS-Bacolod branch manager, said they have resumed the releasing of loans last August 15 since it was suspended last May of this year.
Roldan added they have released 917 checks for salary loans amounting to P57 million, P26 million for 1,959 policy loans, P59 million for 115 claimants for retirement and P1 million of life insurance.
Those granted their loans were from Department of Education (DepEd) and non-DepEd members, he said.
He disclosed that they have still more than 2,000 pending loans while some have been disapproved due to the deficiencies in the documents of applicants.
Despite the figures given by GSIS, most government employees remain closed-minded saying that the released loans were not even half of all pending loans still being processed.
But Roldan said they are doing everything to cope with the backlogs.
Moreover, Garcia added that they have recently discovered that the unremitted premiums stood at P35 billion.
He said that from the past administration they have acquired P4 billion debt to just pay the claims of the members.
“We are now focusing to collect the P35 billion unremitted premiums,” he said.
However, Romeo Lavilla, a GSIS member, said the non-remittance of premiums is not a good excuse for them to not release the salary loans of the members.
“Why penalize the members? Why blame us when it is the GSIS’ obligation to collect those remittances,” he said.
Garcia further defended the purchase of the P46 million worth Juan Luna’s painting saying that a masterpiece of an artist is "pure investment."
“The purchase of Juan Luna’s painting did not come from a single centavo of the members’ premium,” he said.
He said before they have purchased eight masterpieces of Amorsolo placed at the GSIS Museum at P10,000 each.
Now, they have a market value of P5 million each.
“An artist’s masterpiece is a wise investment,” he said adding that the masterpiece’ market value does not depreciate while in the bank the value of the peso depreciates eventually.
Garcia further said the funds came from the general insurance of government properties from the P3.5 billion fund.
He added that under the Insurance Code they are required to save 50 percent of the fund for contingency.
He said that members should not worry on the painting investment of GSIS but should be alarmed of the GSIS investment on stocks such as of PCI-Equitable investment where GSIS have already lost P5 billion.
Garcia noted that the high compensation received by GSIS officials is provided under the GSIS Act of 1997 stating that sufficient wages for GSIS officials aims to insulate the officials from possible graft and corruption.
Puentevella, on the other hand, said Congress is looking into the GSIS' alleged misuse of funds and mismanagement.
(September 27, 2003 issue)
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