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THE top
official of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS),
along with the board of the agency’s board of trustees,
are in hot water after two separate criminal and
administrative complaints were filed against them before
the Office of the Ombudsman by three groups who accused
them of illegally remitting P1 billion in unassigned
surplus of the Government Insurance Fund to the Office
of the President instead of the National Treasury.
Named
respondents were GSIS president and general manager
Winston Garcia; board of trustees chairman Bernardino
Abes and board members Victoria Ablan, Jesse Andres,
Mario Ramirez, Esperanza Ocampo, Reynaldo Palmiery,
Alejandro Roces, Jesus Santos and Nita Javier.
The
complaints were filed by lawyer Alberto Velasco, former
president of the Kapisanan ng mga Mangagawa sa GSIS, and
Miguel Miram, founding member of the Parents-Teachers
Coalition for Advancement, along with Luz Pacete of the
School Association of Parents Anti-Crime.
In view
of the charges, the complainants asked the Ombudsman to
order the preventive suspension of Garcia and the other
GSIS officials to protect the integrity of the
investigation and ensure that documents pertaining to
the illegal disbursements are not stolen or destroyed,
and to encourage witnesses to come out.
Miram
and Pacete claimed the respondents committed usurpation
of legislative functions when they passed Board
Resolution 188 on August 13, 2003, that decreased the
“survivorship benefits provided by law.”
“[The]
GSIS Board Resolution … is a gross and brazen abuse on
the part of Garcia and the Board of Trustees, as it
amends a law when they have no such lawmaking powers,”
the complaint said.
The
resolution provides that the benefits to be paid to
retiring members shall be limited to the extent of their
contributions that were remitted to the GSIS.
Thus, if
a retiree’s office failed to remit the contribution, the
retiree will not be given any benefit, although his
contributions were collected by his employer.
The
complainants also accused Garcia and members of the
board of illegally passing Board Resolution 255 on
December 6, 2004, for the remittance of the P1-billion
fund to Malacañang.
They
said the respondents’ action violated Republic Act 8291,
or the GSIS Act of 1997; Article 239 of the Revised
Penal Code, or Usurpation of Legislative Functions;
Antigraft and Corrupt Practices Act; and
administratively for grave misconduct under RA 6713, or
the Code of Conduct and Ethical Standards for Public
Officials and Employees.
Under
the law, the complainants said, disposal of unassigned
surplus from the Government Insurance Fund shall be
apportioned in accordance with the schedule approved by
the system, among the government agencies whose
properties are insured in the fund.
“This
scheme and practice of the accused in delivering monies
of the GSIS to the Office of the President is illegal,
unlawful, and immoral.” They blasted the “penchant of
the accused in sucking up to the powers that be by
delivering monies to it, a departure from the GSIS’s
practice in the past of coursing through the National
Treasury any unassigned surplus to government agencies.”
The
complainants are confident the Ombudsman will exercise
its independent power to thoroughly investigate the
charges and finally find probable cause against the
accused that would warrant the charges to reach the
Sandiganbayan for prosecution.
Garcia
is a close ally of President Arroyo and has been in the
limelight in recent months for his key role in shaking
up the boardroom of the country’s largest power
distributor, Meralco, a gambit seen in some quarters as
a thinly veiled takeover by the government of the
company majority-owned by the Lopezes, whose media units
are often critical of the administration.
The GSIS
scoffed at the filing of the complaint before the
Ombudsman.
However,
Estrella Elamparo, the agency’s chief lawyer, said that
the GSIS board of trustees turned over the P1 billion
“to the national coffers pursuant to Republic Act 656.”
She did
not say if the GSIS considers the Office of the
President as “national coffers.”
Elamparo
pointed out that RA 656 mandates the GSIS to remit
whatever unused or surplus earnings the agency has from
its General Insurance Fund (GIF), which is distinct and
separate from the GSIS Social Insurance Fund (SIF).
“The
benefits of GSIS members are derived from its Social
Insurance Fund and not from the GIF. The P1 billion did
not in any way diminish the funds allotted for the
benefits of GSIS members,” she said.
“As a
matter of fact, GSIS members also received dividends
totaling P847 million in December of 2004, which came
from the GSIS SIF,” Elamparo added.
“The P1
billion that went to the national coffers came from the
GSIS GIF, the P847 million that went to GSIS members
came from the GSIS SIF. This should be illustrative
enough of the senselessness of the claim that the GSIS
raided the funds due GSIS members so it can give P1
billion to the government,” she stressed.
The SIF
is where the contributions of GSIS members are kept
while the GIF is the repository of the GSIS investment
funds and earnings from its businesses.
The
P1-billion turnover was the first in eight years, 1997
being the last time the government received dividends
from the GSIS in the amount of P200 million, Elamparo
added. |
