GOCCs should report
directly to public, not just to DOF, says solon
Press Release
November
1, 2010
QUEZON CITY –
Government-owned and-controlled corporations (GOCCs) should routinely
report their operating and financial performance directly to the
public – to Filipino taxpayers – not just to the Department of Finance
(DOF), Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said Monday.
"Taxpayers are the
ultimate shareholders of all GOCCs. Thus, GOCCs should disclose their
quarterly and annual results to the public, through management
conducting a news conference, where their performance can be openly
scrutinized by the media," Barzaga said.
GOCCs should also post
detailed quarterly and annual reports on their web sites, in a format
to be approved by the DOF, for all to see, Barzaga said.
"The reports should
include the entity's net profit or loss in the period under review,
subsidy received, dividends remitted to the National Treasury, and the
emoluments of board members and senior executives," he said.
To discourage
self-dealing, Barzaga said the reports should also include all
"related party transactions" by board members and senior executives.
"This will promote
absolute transparency and full accountability in the operations of
every GOCC," he added.
Barzaga said many
GOCCs still lack transparency. "If you go to the web site of the
National Power Corp., for instance, the latest publicly available
annual report you can download is for 2008," he pointed out. The DOF
earlier ordered 158 GOCCs to submit all necessary information to the
department a month before their board meetings, as part of new
reporting rules meant to rein in abuses, including excessive rewards
that many boards have been giving themselves.
Barzaga has been
pushing for a mandatory cap on the remuneration of board members and
senior executives at GOCCs, including Cabinet members who, by virtue
of their positions, concurrently serve on the boards of multiple
state-run firms.
He cited the case of
the Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corp., where the
heads of the DOF, Department of Energy (DOE), Department of Budget and
Management (DBM), National Economic Development Authority (NEDA),
Department of Justice (DOJ), and Department of Trade and Industry
(DTI) serve as board members.
At the Philippine
Health Insurance Corp., the heads of the Department of Health (DOH),
Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), Department of the Interior
and Local Government (DILG), and Department of Social Welfare and
Development (DSWD) serve as board members.
At the Home
Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), the heads of the DOF, DBM,
DTI, DOLE and Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council serve
as board members. At the National Development Co., the heads of the
DTI, DOF, DBM, DOE, and Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) serve as board members.
At the Land Bank of
the Philippines, the heads of the DOF, DOLE, Department of
Agriculture, and Department of Agrarian Reform serve as board members.
At the National Transmission Corp., the heads of the DOF, DOE, and
DENR serve as board members.