GSIS dividends

After the accusatory din against the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) regarding a supposed raiding of the funds for members so the Office of the President kuno can get P1 billion by way of dividends has died down, what is emerging is an aberrant obfuscation of facts to make it appear that the GSIS was remiss in its mandate to safeguard the funds that should accrue to government employees.

One only needs to appreciate fully whence the funds came to know that the complaint before the Ombudsman filed against GSIS top honcho Winston Garcia does not have the best of motives.

For the complaint that one Albert Velasco filed against Garcia seemed to proceed from an invalid premise: that the dividends that were given to the government coffers (not to the Office of the President, as claimed in the suit) came from the fund meant only for the government employees’ benefits. This fund, identified as the GSIS Social Insurance Fund (SIF), was never touched, as is being claimed. What the GSIS did was to dip from the so-called GSIS General Insurance Fund (GIF), which is a different animal altogether.

The GIF is different from that of the SIF, the former being the fund from where the earnings of the GSIS arising from its business of insuring government-owned and -controlled assets are lodged, the latter being the money vault for the government workers’ contributions. Whatever earnings the GSIS makes from the GIF, especially since not all the assets so insured go up in smoke or are hit by calamities, are mandated to be remitted to the government coffers by way of the National Treasury.

Had the GSIS dipped its finger into the SIF, then the complaint could be deemed valid for the pension fund is not supposed to get from the SIF and lump the same as dividends for the government. This simply cannot be done as there are rules that govern trust-fund operations. Any infraction of the rules cannot escape the eagle eyes of the Commission on Audit.

GSIS chief legal counsel Estrella Elamparo, in explaining the facts of the case, has left no room for doubt as to the validity of the dividend payout that the pension fund remitted to the government in December 2004. The GSIS official even cited a dividend declaration of the pension fund from the members’ fund or SIF. “As a matter of fact, GSIS members also received dividends of their own, totaling P847 million in December of 2004, which came from the GSIS SIF,” Ms. Elamparo said.

“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 said. There, now, the colorful language of Ms. Elamparo belies the colored filing of the suit before the Ombudsman and put in its distinct place the GIF from that of the SIF.

On this score, the dividend payments, which we recall were meant to bolster the government’s coffers, can stand legal scrutiny. Aside from the GSIS, other government financial institutions also chipped in to the government by way of dividends, including those of the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Land Bank of the Philippines. And the dividends all came from the earnings from the operations of these government financial institutions.

Holcim launches new product

Holcim Philippines Inc., a cement firm which is into ecology-friendly production operations, launched last night its new product, WallRight, at the Crowne Pointe Hotel in the Ortigas Business District.

The new product is a masonry cement which the company said is ideal for “plastering, hollow-block laying and finishing applications. “What is remarkable about the product is that it has a bond strength of 200 percent compared with general-purpose
cement.

With the present challenges arising from the subprime mess, the oil-price spike and the global inflationary spiral, companies are now coming up with new products and ideas to increase their revenues by way of high-end products. This is part of a new marketing mantra that says different products should be made to cater to different classes of people. In so doing, a company would be able to survive the current difficult times.

Holcim chief operating officer Ian Thackwray earlier revealed that the company has entered into long-term supply agreements with its clients, such as construction firms and developers, so that a set price would subsist for, say, one year, even if there are spikes in the costs of raw materials or inputs such as energy costs. This innovative move shows the management savvy of Thackwray, who was into chemicals before joining the company.

Indeed, one needs an outsider looking in to be able to come up with a different perspective on the business despite of the challenging economic environment. By getting the long-term contracts, Holcim would be able to create efficiencies in its production such that it could afford to concentrate on the launch of other cement products. Why, the company is now marketing concrete roof, proof that it is well-ensconced at the top of the industry.

E-mail: hugagni@yahoo.com

Editorial: Amid population growth, what are bishops doing?

The Catholic Church, through such declarations as the encyclical Humanae Vitae, categorically opposes artificial contraception—particularly abortion. This, however, does not mean that family planning, population management and related issues are no longer hotly debated among the clergy and the laity.

Dispatches from the Enchanted Kingdom:

Misinformation, acrimonious confrontation

Sensing that the debate on the reproductive-health bill was taking a turn for the worse, Speaker Prospero Nograles announced the formation of a panel of representatives to dialogue with the bishops “to obviate misinformation and acrimonious confrontation on the pending consolidated bill on family planning.”

Cloudy skies for Doha

The most optimistic World Trade Organization (WTO) trade negotiators are perhaps taking solace in the old saying. “It is always darkest before the dawn.”

The Way Forward: Naia 3 is first step forward

When the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (Naia) Terminal 3 opened its doors yesterday for eight domestic flights, I could hear across the country sighs of relief and hope, including my own. It’s been nearly a decade since the project was launched, and six years since it was mothballed in 2002 after the Supreme Court voided the multibillion-peso contract for its construction because of onerous provisions.

Sway: Regulation as a priming tool

Given present-day world economic concerns, such as surging oil and food prices and slowing growth, there is urgent need for the Philippines to maintain production and consumption patterns if only to sustain its economy’s growth momentum.

Market Files: GSIS dividends

After the accusatory din against the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) regarding a supposed raiding of the funds for members so the Office of the President kuno can get P1 billion by way of dividends has died down, what is emerging is an aberrant obfuscation of facts to make it appear that the GSIS was remiss in its mandate to safeguard the funds that should accrue to government employees.