Saturday, May 31, 2008 Militant group hits Garcia on GSIS ‘systems losses’
A MILITANT teachers group on Friday lambasted Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president Winston Garcia for what it said were the agency’s own “systems losses” that it passes to its members.
Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) chairman Antonio Tinio said Garcia should also be made to answer for the GSIS own systems loses that its members, mostly low paid government employees have to endure.
“While he's busy plotting the takeover of Meralco (Manila Electric Company) using our hard-earned pension funds, Garcia refuses to heed the widespread clamor against his own policies in GSIS," Tinio said in reference to the ongoing fight between Garcia and the Lopez family over the power distribution firm’s charging of systems loses to its consumers.
System loss refers to electricity lost due to technical inefficiency or pilferage. The Anti-Electricity Pilferage Law (Republic Act 7832) allows private utilities to charge up to nine percent of their system losses to consumers.
He said Garcia should also do something to address the issue in his own backyard, adding that whatever positive outcome of the Garcia-Lopez battle have on the public will be shadowed by the mess at the GSIS.
Tinio said public elementary and secondary teachers formed more than one third of the current GSIS membership of 1.6 million.
Garcia, a former politician from Cebu and a close ally of the President, is leading a controversial bid to take control of the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).
The state-pension fund holds 23 percent share in the power distribution firm making.
Tinio said Garcia’s main complaint against Meralco about the systems loss charge could also be attributed to the pension fund.
“He has been complaining loudly about the system loss charge of Meralco but he has been charging the same thing to us, the GSIS members since he introduced the premium-based policy five years ago,” he said.
Under the policy, the benefits of GSIS members are computed and paid out based on the actual premium payments received by the pension fund. Prior to its adoption benefits were based on a member’s years of service.
“The GSIS policy of recovering its unpaid premiums from us through deduction of our benefits is like Meralco’s practice of charging systems losses to its electric consumers,” he said.
He said the new policy, failure of GSIS to collect premium payments or failure of government agencies to remit their payments, are recovered from the members in the form of deduction which he said is unfair especially to those employees who are making do with their small salaries.
Tinio said what made the policy more “unjust” is that they have no control in the collection and remittance of the premium.
Experts said part of the blame with the current problem regarding premium payment should lie with Congress for failing to appropriate the necessary budget in 1997-98 resulting in GSIS having a hard time reconciling its records with the Department of Education (DepEd).
But Tinio said Congress’ failure should not be placed on GSIS members who he said are mostly low and middle income earners.
“It’s not fault that Congress failed to provide the necessary funds in 1997 and 1998 but whether or not there are failures, the GSIS leadership should take the responsibility and they should not penalize us,” he said.
He said like Meralco’s systems loss charge, the premium policy is also “illegal and reprehensible” moreover, he said since the latter is contrary to the GSIS law.
Under RA 8291, GSIS member’s benefits should be based on the number of years of service and not on the amount of premium paid.
The GSIS has defended the policy as part of the reform measures to make the pension fund more efficient and be able to serve all its members. They attributed the turnaround of GSIS from a money-losing venture to a success due to the various innovation implemented during Garcia’s watch. (AH/Sunnex)
