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Saturday, September 18, 2004
Stick to austerity program or be fired: Arroyo (3:45 p.m.)
MANILA -- Philippine President Arroyo on Saturday warned the heads of government corporations they would be fired if they did not cut their pay and implement her strict austerity program.
The presidential palace said in a statement this was part of the government's effort to avoid a fiscal crisis caused by a growing deficit and ballooning government debts.
As part of this effort, the Arroyo government would have a "compliance scorecard on pay cuts and austerity measures among government-owned or controlled corporations," the statement said.
"This will be a tool for deciding who among the presidential appointees would stay or leave," it warned.
Arroyo last month imposed such austerity measures on government agencies as banning non-essential foreign travel and ordering government offices to trim their use of fuel and electricity by 10 percent.
Arroyo said Friday that executives of government-owned and -controlled corporations had agreed to take "voluntary pay cuts while reorienting their respective organizations to the imperatives of discipline and effectiveness." She did not give details.
A number of legislators have criticized the president for granting excessively high salaries and other perks to these executives, all of whom were appointed by Arroyo.
Arroyo is trying to convince legislators to pass new tax measures to avoid the fiscal crisis but many lawmakers as well as much of the public are against these new taxes. (AFP) |
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