Drilon takes a dig at spooks

By Macon Ramos-Araneta | Posted on September 12, 2012 |

 

 

Ghosts roam in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao, remarked Senator Franklin Drilon while holding a public hearing.
“In ARMM, there are a lot of ghosts– ghost employees, ghost teachers, ghost students, ghost internally displaced persons, ghost voters, ghost contractors, ghost gasoline stations, and many more,” said Drilon, chair of the senate finance committee.
In talking about the haunted place, he was referring to fictitious and non-existing persons and transactions which were used to cover up for various anomalies in the region.
“All of these contributed to the corruptions in the past which continue to haunt people in the ARMM,” said Drilon in finance committee’s hearing on the ARMM proposed P13.99 billion budget for 2013.
He cited the P1.6 billion unpaid premium payments, including interests and penalties, to the different insurance agencies particularly to the Government Service Insurance System.
These payments were deducted from the salaries of the ARMM employees, which the GSIS claimed were not remitted to them from 2001 to 2010, he noted.
“We must emphasize the deficiencies in premium contributions are the major source of continuing frustration and disappointment among government personnel including the thousands of teachers,” said Drilon.
Thousands of teachers sometime could not avail of their GSIS benefits like housing and salary loans because the premiums were collected, but not remitted to the GSIS based on the agency’s record, he said.
During the same senate hearing, ARMM Governor Mujiv Hataman disclosed numerous irregularities in the region.
Drilon said his committee and the Senate Blue Ribbon chaired by Senator Teofisto Guingona III will conduct an investigation on where these funds went.
“We will look into this to finally address the plight being faced by the thousands of government personnel in the ARMM,” he said.
“We have confidence in the leadership of Hataman. The OIC governor is our new ghost buster,” said Drilon.
“We are pleased that under the leadership of Governor Hataman, these ghosts are starting to vanish and the corruption is being firmly addressed.” (END)