MWSS ready to ‘moderate’ multi bonuses

MANILA, Philippines—Yes, they admit, the board directors are receiving P98,000 in salaries/perks a month plus travel and representation allowance of P28,000 a month. And yes, the employees have bonuses galore.

But the acting head of the Metropolitan Waterworks and Sewerage System (MWSS) Tuesday said the agency was willing to “moderate” the bonuses, allowances and other perks that President Benigno Aquino III pointed out in his first State of the Nation Address on Monday as extravagant.

“MWSS employees accept that they have many bonuses and so we’re looking at how to correct that now,” MWSS officer in charge Macra Cruz said Tuesday.

Cruz said the MWSS would “comply [with Mr. Aquino’s directive] and moderately adjust our bonuses. If we need to reduce, we will reduce.”

Mr. Aquino on Monday said employees of the MWSS were receiving the equivalent of over 30 months’ pay, including additional bonuses and allowances.

He said members of the board were enjoying additional benefits like productivity, anniversary and yearend bonuses, additional Christmas package on top of the Christmas bonus, car service, technical and financial assistance.

Cruz said all the bonuses and allowances had been approved by the MWSS board.

She added that there were no irregularities because these allowances went to all employees and not just to certain individuals or officers.

Board of trustees

Cruz identified the members of the board as herself, Gabriel Claudio, Ferdinand Mahusay, Oscar Garcia, Aurora Arnaez, Santiago Gabionza, Virgilio Angelo, Albert Balingit and Elpidio Vega.

Cruz said it was time “we support the President (in his efforts at) austerity.”

“We will recommend a cutback on the bonuses. We’re now talking with officials, department managers. We will see also what is acceptable to the labor union. Employees seem to be very cooperative,” she said.

Cruz said MWSS employees accepted the criticisms “positively.”

Unfairly maligned

But the founder of the MWSS labor association felt that the employees were unfairly “maligned” by Mr. Aquino, who he said was fed misleading information by Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson.

Genaro Bautista, founder of Kaisahan at Kapatiran ng mga Manggagawa at Kawani sa MWSS (KKMK-MWSS), said the President should have seen through Singson’s motive in putting the MWSS perks in a bad light.

Bautista said Singson wanted to destroy the reputation of the MWSS board and its staff who had resisted Maynilad Services Inc.’s application to raise water rates.

Singson was president and chief executive officer of Maynilad, owned by Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and DMCI Holdings Inc., until he was named public works secretary.

“Mr. President, be careful about what information your people will feed you. The compensation and perks for our directors and employees were all obtained from our collective bargaining agreement that we have worked for since 1957,” Bautista said.

Bautista was a clerk in the state company when he founded its labor union in 1957.

Entire payroll

Bautista said that the P211.5 million in salaries and additional allowances and benefits that Mr. Aquino claimed were received by MWSS officials covered the agency’s entire payroll and perks.

He said that board directors were receiving as much as P98,000 in salaries and perks a month because under the collective bargaining agreement, they were entitled to P14,000 per meeting (the board meets up to five times a month) plus monthly travel and representation allowance of P28,000.

Bautista said the President was correct in stating that MWSS officials get midyear, productivity, anniversary, yearend and Christmas bonuses, additional Christmas package and financial assistance.

He said Mr. Aquino failed to point out that the rest of the employees were getting the same perks as stated in the CBA.

“Most of these perks were achieved through several years of negotiations. A board member is considered an employee in the MWSS so they get the benefits of the CBA, too” Bautista said in Filipino.

Self-sustaining

The 65-year-old chief of the MWSS accounting department said there was no anomaly in the MWSS because the institution was self-sustaining and was not getting any subsidies from the government or allocations from the budget.

He said that even the La Mesa housing project for employees was aboveboard as it obtained all the necessary permits, including one from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

“Instead of maligning the MWSS, the President should look at the actions of the concessionaires especially Maynilad which wants to increase rates due to its inefficiency,” Bautista said.

He noted that Maynilad’s wastage rate was a high 53 percent.

Water rates have jumped to P33.08 per cubic meter since Maynilad took over in 1997 when the MWSS water rate before privatization was only P8.48 per cubic meter, according to Bautista.

“He (Singson) wants to replace the entire MWSS board so he can finally approve higher water rates,” Bautista added.

After appointing himself chair of the MWSS, Singson gave up the post due to a public uproar on his conflict of interest in which the regulated became the regulator.

Other state firms

In the House of Representatives, a lawmaker urged the President to also look into the perks of other government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and government financial institutions such as the Government Service Insurance System and Social Security System.

Cavite Rep. Elpidio Barzaga Jr. said Mr. Aquino should not stop at MWSS because there were other GOCCs and GFIs that had more lavish rewards to their directors. –Amy R. Remo, Gil C. Cabacungan Jr., Philippine Daily Inquirer