GOCC's - (gawks!)the draculas of our times, Philippine setting

In these times of high technology and unprecedented breakthroughs in science, communications, food production, among other thousands of human accomplishments, we were entertained by Dracula movies such as the Twilight saga that captured the imagination of and following by fans belonging to all generations, whether the babyboomers (like me), the xgen or whatever names we are defined. In the Philippines, we have a different kind of entertainment, one that does not only annoy and dismay us but strikes us with a blow that unbeknown to Filipinos could sap our nation's lifeblood slowly ( is getting fast, lately) but surely until blood dries up, rendering the body of our government and nation lifeless...

Who and what is this dracula-like entity(ies) that will hurt us as a nation of aspiring Filipinos who work hard to make life decent and dignified for our children in the future?

You're right, I put one such entity in the title of this piece - the government owned and controlled corporations or the GOCC for short. If we read this short cut the sound is familiar as in " gawk," as indeed I gawked at the insensitivity and callousness of the officials and even some employees to a certain extent due to their participation, of these corporations in receiving indecent incomes, bonuses, profit-sharings and other perks similar to what the private sector corporations are showering their officers and employees in accordance with meritocracy. Incidentally, the private sector corporations can do just that because they work hard to earn their keep, unlike government corporations who regularly receive funds from the national coffers for them to function. Never mind their own income generating activities, if they earn profits, well and good; but if they don't, they always go to mama for help. I don't mean the national government is in the hands of a woman president, for it is now lodged in the hands of a male leader who we overwhelmingly voted into office to straighten things out.

Here are facts with a taste of bad news that we should appreciate Sen Frank Drilon who is my kasimanwa, for informing us Filipinos. Php 532 billion have been appropriated for fourteen (14) gawks for 2010. That is roughly 37% of Philippine Government's appropriation (Php 1.441 Trillion). Whew! that's a lot a lot of money (not pizza)! The worst part is that these gawks have become independent republics according to Sen. Drilon, without their expenditures being publicly scrutinized as in the case of the agencies of the national government. The Department of Finance and the Department of Budget Management have no control over the expenditures of the gawks and GFi's (government financial institutions) for these institutions have their charters giving them independence from control. Of course, the lawmakers had the best interest of our country when they passed laws creating the gawks. However, planning, creating and implementing or executing are different phases of endeavor requiring different handlers or implementors. A law, no matter how best it was crafted, is useless if wrongly executed.

Mga kababayan, a mere one thousand pesos (Php 1,000) is stretched to last a week by our poor Filipino brethren, while gawk's officers feast on expensive and the best cuisine. Trips abroad for vacation are ordinary leisure activities samantalang ang mga mahihirap sa ating bansa ay nagtitipid ng pamasahe sa jeep, bus, at ngayon ay nakaharap bumayad ng mas mataas na pamasahe sa MRT at LRT! I know of one neighbor, a middle aged woman, who is compassionate enough to serve her customers who are minimum wage earners Php 20 to Php 30 per serving of food. Php 50 may kanin at ulam na for the working poor; yang mga tinamaan ng kulog na mga opisyales ng gawks ay pang tip lang ang Php 50 sa parking lot boys or barkers!

Are we going to allow this inequity in our Philippine society to continue?

By no means let us do something to stop the wayward gawks (I mean the GOCC's) from bleeding the public coffers! Distribute and spend public funds appropriately and wisely! I address these calls to our PNoy and to our lawmakers.

We urge congress to pursue vigorously the passage of a Public Enterprise Corporate Governance Act to allow REVIEW of GOCCs' finances. Let there be a provision in the law that MUST REQUIRE these GOCC's to be financially independent and profitable with accountability on failure to become profit centers for our government. Private sector corporations' managers are subject to performance review with profitability as the bottomline. GOCC managers should be treated likewise. Perhaps by then I may be able to express properly the word GOCC instead of GAWK.

Pilipinas kong mahal, panalangin kong magising ang mga opisyales namin sa iyong gobyerno sa katotohanang NAPAKARAMI pang pagtutuwid ang gagawin sa pamahalaan. Eto and samo't dalangin namin sa Poong Maykapal. Mabuhay ang Pilipino!