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THE
Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and its
president, Winston Garcia, on Thursday filed a complaint
for libel against Lakas Rep. Bienvenido Abante Jr. of
Manila for allegedly claiming that GSIS funds were being used to
bribe congressmen to support the speakership bid of
Cebu congressman-elect Pablo Garcia.
In a
complaint-affidavit filed with the city prosecutor of
Pasay City, Winston Garcia said Abante’s charges, which
were aired on radio and television and carried by the
print media, were “false, defamatory and malicious, and
made in reckless disregard of the truth.”
In
including the GSIS as a complainant, Winston said that
the defamatory statements made by Abante had ruined “the
goodwill and accomplishments that GSIS officers and
employees have been working so hard to achieve.”
He
stressed that since the GSIS is a pension fund built on
trust, “if the trust is somehow eroded because of false
imputations . . . then the institution runs the risk of
going bankrupt.”
The GSIS
president charged Abante with having told the media that
“Mr. Winston Garcia is very much involved in this act of
bribery.” According to documents submitted by Winston
and GSIS, Abante also said that he had proof of
Winston’s involvement, and yet he had failed so far to
submit such proof.
“Thus,
without any shred of evidence on hand, respondent Abante
imputed the very serious crime of bribery and, by
implication, malversation of public funds, against GSIS
and the undersigned. ‘Shameful,’ ‘immoral’ and ‘illegal’
were just some of the inflammatory words he used to cast
aspersions on the institution and myself,” complained
Winston.
The GSIS
president said that, “As a public official himself, he [Abante]
must have known the process for disbursement of public
funds, which involves the approval of certain authorized
officers and close scrutiny by the Commission on Audit (COA).
It is impossible, therefore, for the undersigned to just
get huge chunks of money from the funds of GSIS without
the cooperation of GSIS officers and COA.”
“Likewise,” he added, “GSIS funds would not have
dramatically grown if we were dishonest in the
performance of our duties. We take pains to always
assure our members and pensioners that their funds are
in good hands. However, all these went down the drain
with respondent’s irresponsible and malicious
statements.”
Winston
averred that “As a pension fund on which our public
servants rely for their future sustenance, our
continuing existence is built on trust. Our investments
thrive because of trust. However, if that trust is
somehow eroded because of false imputations that strike
at our ability to keep safe our member’s funds, then the
institution runs the risk of going bankrupt.”
Garcia
asserted that since he assumed the position of president
and general manager of GSIS in 2001, he had initiated
far-reaching reforms aimed at strengthening the system
and lengthening its actuarial life. “From a company with
an actual deficit of P25 billion, GSIS is now enjoying a
surplus of P21 billion.”
As a
result, the actuarial life of GSIS was lengthened to
until year 2046 from 2024. |
