PCSO: No rule broken in ‘bonus’ grants

In the Inquirer’s July 16 issue, the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PCSO) was the subject of an article titled “PCSO execs broke bonus rule, says COA.” Allow us to give the public the complete and correct story.

Under Republic Act 1169 (PCSO’s charter), it is the president of the Philippines that determines the compensation of the PCSO board. As per the presidential approvals obtained by previous boards, the chair is entitled to a monthly compensation of P219,938, inclusive of the P40,000 basic salary; while a member of the board is entitled to a monthly compensation of P146,938, inclusive of the P20,000 basic salary.

With the issuance of Executive Order 7 and EO 19, we needed to request presidential approval of the current compensation, as we did in our letter dated Oct. 7, 2010. We received the approval on May 23, 2011. As a result, we continued the grant of the benefits and allowances to our officials and employees, including the salaries and allowances of the chair and the members of the board.

When the Governance Commission for GOCCs Law took effect and upon notice by the GCG, we discontinued all the salaries and other benefits of the board, retaining only the per diem per meeting for a maximum of P864,000 per annum for the chair and P768,000 per annum for each member of the board. This is comparable to what a regular government employee with Salary Grade 15 receives.

We have initiated reforms for good governance, changed the culture of corruption, and inspired PCSO employees to work harder; and we are slowly reaping the fruits of these reforms as shown by the P1.8 billion we have saved thus far. We are still in the process of instituting more reforms so that long after our term, we would have left the Filipino public a legacy of honest and dignified public service.

—MARGARITA P. JUICO, chair,
Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office,
Philippine International Convention Center,
CCP Complex, Roxas Boulevard,
1307 Pasay City