|
“I’m
going to make a baby.”
This was
just classic Corazon de la Paz-Bernardo. I ask a serious
question why she is resigning from the Social Security
System (SSS) after being its president for seven years,
and she makes a joke out of it. Hearty laughter follows
her declaration—both from her and me; I suppose she is
probably tired of answering the same question over and
over again since news of her leaving, and subsequent
replacement, hit the media.
She
turns serious: “You know, I no longer have a colon. Then
last December, I went to the hospital because I had a
bleeding ulcer. That and my back,” referring to her
scoliosis. “Everything happened to me while I was in SSS,
all these stresses! It’s time for me to look after
myself.”
De la
Paz-Bernardo discloses, though, that she will still be
involved in the government’s social-security program in
one way or another. “I’m just not sure how it will be
done,” she says, whether it will be on a consultancy
basis or an actual government appointment. She explains
the government position is necessary for her to retain
her leadership at the helm of the International Social
Security Association (Issa). Through Issa, she has made
headway in helping Filipinos and other migrant workers
get social- security coverage in the countries where
they are working.
“They [Malacañang]
realize it’s an honor to the country [the Philippines
heading the Issa]. We could influence many issues. Not
many countries are prepared to give migrant workers
social security. The Middle East governments, for
example, have already agreed that their workers can be
covered by social security in the [host] countries where
their citizens are based. So we’re hoping the Middle
East governments can extend the same to noncitizens,” de
la Paz-Bernardo explains. The government estimates about
a million Filipinos working in the Middle East.
She adds
Spain, the Netherlands and Korea extend social-security
coverage to Filipinos, and when the workers return home,
some of these countries allow the workers to withdraw
their benefits.
Offers
from private firms
Meanwhile, de la Paz-Bernardo says she is open to
accepting board seats in some companies and, in fact, a
few offers from private companies have already been sent
her way. She jokes that after surviving the jungles of
government life, perhaps she is seen by company owners
as being tough enough to do anything. But she is in no
hurry to accept any offers at the moment, “I want to
know first what is required of me and how much time I
will spend on that job.”
Asked
what would be the first thing she will do on August 1?
“I will clean my house,” referring to her property in
Forbes Park, although she now lives with her husband,
retired banker Enrique “Ike” V. Bernardo, in a
condominium in Rockwell, Makati. “I have boxes and boxes
of things I have to start cleaning out. When I retired
from Pricewaterhouse [Cooper], I never got to fix my
things, and I have a lot of files to sort through! I
also have some things of my late husband I never got to
organize. I was traveling a lot and had my work, so
these things stayed in their boxes.”
It will
be a different, slower pace for de la Paz-Bernardo,
which, for a workaholic like her, she might just not be
prepared for. Withdrawal symptoms anyone? “I don’t know.
We’ll see. I just want to spend more time with Ike, get
better in golf, go see a movie, watch concerts, dance,
take Pilates…” (Don’t forget the baby!) The list is
endless, but what’s one more adventure or two for the
gutsy lady?
Of her
seven-year stint at the SSS, de la Paz-Bernardo is
mostly satisfied that she had accomplished much of what
she had set out to do. It was just a matter of going
back to the basics, she believes. “If you are not
collecting [contributions], start collecting. Follow
financial rules. Make a budget and stick to it. Only
spend on what is really needed, because that’s the
members’ money.” When she first stepped into SSS’s
doors, the agency was spending more on benefits than
what it was collecting. “We needed to improve our
services so that our members will realize how important
we are in their lives; that we will be there when
needed.”
She
credits former SSS president Vitaliano Nañagas II for
starting the project to cut down the processing time of
check releases and extension of benefits to members.
“Computers were installed, we added people, so there was
an improvement in collections.” Modesty aside, de la
Paz-Bernardo says the collections of SSS during her
seven-year term “comprises 55 percent of the collections
of the last 50 years.” The agency, she says, made it
more convenient for its members to remit their
contributions. SSS also went after and filed cases
against employees who were remiss in remitting their
contributions to cover their employees. Among these
negligent employers were congressmen and Cabinet
secretaries, many of whom tried to appeal to her to have
their cases dropped.
‘Unhappy’ Palace officials
The
politicking didn’t stop there. Over time, there were
several requests from Malacañang officials for SSS funds
to be used in some projects. But de la Paz-Bernardo
insists, “I don’t think they should be crucified for
that. They probably think that the institution is
stronger now [to accommodate their requests].” She also
clarifies that these requests did not have anything to
do with election-related ventures, but were “social
projects,” which, unfortunately, are still not under the
SSS’s domain.
“When
they ask me, I answer them the truth, I’m usually
direct. So I said no. I have a very strict
interpretation of the SSS regulations, and I have been
trained for many years as an auditor. I speak my mind on
what cannot be allowed,” de la Paz-Bernardo explains
without going into detail about any specific incidents,
which have caused the tensions between her and some of
the President’s people. “I was just being true to myself
to protect the funds of the SSS members.” She adds that
even the agency’s commissioners supported her in
rejecting those requests.
Eventually, she heard some Palace officials were “not
happy” with her. She also had a feeling that she would
soon be asked to resign. “I knew they were going to do
it, and there were many who said there were several
politicians who didn’t make it in the last elections who
wanted to sit at SSS. So even if they didn’t ask me to
resign, I knew they would eventually.”
But she
flatly denies allegations that she is involved in the
Black and White Movement, which some quarters say may
have led to her falling out of favor from the
powers-that-be. “I’m not involved with them, although of
course, I know Ging Deles because she is a member of the
Women in Service group, along with Pat Sto. Tomas, Loren
Legarda and other women.”
And
while it is true she is a member of the MBC and was even
its Treasurer once, she has not been actively involved
in any of its activities. “I haven’t attended any of
their meetings,” de la Paz-Bernardo says, adding that
her inactivity was also due to the group’s critical view
of the administration. “I’m with the government and I
see there is value in my being at SSS.”
She says
not a word has been exchanged between her and President
Arroyo on her resignation and the reasons for such. She
also has not discussed with the President the issue of
those funding requests. She just found out from Finance
Secretary Margarito Teves that her resignation had been
accepted and Malacañang already had a replacement in
mind.
Watchful
employees
Controversy-riddled Romulo Neri, current chairman of the
Commission on Higher Education, has been appointed by
President Arroyo to take over SSS on August 1. His
insistence on protecting the President during the
ZTE-NBN broadband deal has earned him his share of
critics. They believe the SSS appointment is his reward
for keeping quiet about what the President said when
told the deal was fraught with corruption.
Is she
confident that she is leaving the SSS in good hands? de
la Paz-Bernardo says she has a profound faith in the
goodness of people, even Neri. “He is bright. He has the
right working experience. I hope he will do what is
needed to protect the funds. I’ve been telling our
people to help him, but to be vigilant.”
After
her press briefing on Thursday, the outgoing SSS chief
received a text message from Neri, thanking her “for the
kind words in the media.” She texted him back saying,
“you deserve it. Our members deserve no less than a
stable organization. We owe that to them.’ ” How did
Neri respond? “I will do my best,” de la Paz-Bernardo
quotes him.
“I’m an
optimistic person. And I think that people are generally
interested in doing what’s right. For such an
intelligence, Neri will try his best. I just don’t know,
maybe he will be more liberal in his thinking. He might
be flexible in these things,” de la Paz-Bernardo refers
once more to those funding requests made of her by some
government officials. “But we have more funds now. We
are now starting to see the improvements in our fiscal
position.” She adds that she is confident the SSS
employees—who she said has sacrificed so much to improve
the image of the agency—and the commissioners, “will be
watchful. They will remind the SSS leadership when what
he is doing is not right.” |
