MECO Board Member Scandal

[philippines]

A board member of the Manila Economic and Cultural Office (MECO) can retire after two years and get an eye-popping retirement pay of P600,000 per year of service.

This was uncovered on Wednesday at the resumption of the Senate committee on finance public hearing into the alleged excessive and unwarranted salaries, allowances, bonuses and other emoluments and perks of the top officials of government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs) as well as government financial institutions (GFIs).

”This is a major, major scandal,” committee chair Senator Franklin Drilon said in reaction to the revelation of former Congressman and now new MECO Chairman Amadeo Perez to the panel which also includes Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises chair Senator Ralph Recto, Senator Sergio Osmena III and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

”You must be building a republic of your own in the MECO,” Enrile, for his part, commented, adding that there is a strong reason to create a new law that would stop the abuses of some GOCCs.

Drilon lauded Perez for unearthing the scandalous operation of the MECO which was created in 1975 to promote the cultural and trade partnerships between the Philippines and Taiwan.

”So refreshing that once in a while, the head of a GOCC will admit that the salary structures in the GOCC concerned is scandalous and that is the case of Chairman Amadeo Perez. I must commend him for being candid. He is new to the corporation and therefore he’ll give it a new and fresh look,” Drilon said to the media after the hearing.

Drilon discovered that the MECO do not remit its funds to the National Treasury despite earning money from passport, visa and notary fees of the employment contracts of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

He also said that based on records, the MECO-Taiwan has remitted US$ 3.4 million to the MECO-Manila, and yet “these public funds are not audited by the Commission on Audit but by foreign auditors based in Taiwan.”

”They are operating in violation of the Constitution and of all laws of the land. These are public funds, I must repeat,” Drilon said.

”This must be stopped and I’m glad that the new chairman, former Congressman Amadeo Perez, has agreed that, No. 1, their fund must no be audited by the COA and not by a foreign auditor in Taipei or a private one which is really in violation of all laws,” Drilon stressed.

Drilon said the scandalous practice most not only be stopped but all involved in this illegal operation “must be held responsible.” - pna

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