A Muslim woman shows off her government card outside the Sulu Provincial Capitol where she gets her pension from a money machine. (Mindanao Examiner Photo)

SULU, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 31, 2010) - Civil workers and pensioners in the southern Philippine province of Sulu are all praises to the installation of money machines where they can draw funds instead of getting them in Zamboanga City in Mindanao.

They said they can now get their salaries and pensions from automated teller machines installed by the Government Service Insurance System at the capitol building on the request of Governor Sakur Tan.

"This machine have made it easy for me to get my monthly government pension. I don't have to travel to Zamboanga City anymore just to get my money, we have this money machine now and this is good and just got a little tutorial on how to use my card and the machine," Elsa Usman told the Mindanao Examiner.

Aside from the GSIS desk, Tan also put up desks for various government agencies, including the Commission on Human Rights and the National Bureau of Investigation, to make it easier for locals to get their clearances and other pertinent documents instead of travelling to Zamboanga City to get them. (Mindanao Examiner)

Bare Overseas Investments, GSIS Urged

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / September 22, 2008) - The Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) on Sunday slammed the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for its "absolute lack of transparency with respect to its investments overseas."

"GSIS pensioners and members are entitled to know how much of their money has actually been stashed overseas, and in what financial products the money has been invested," said Ernesto Herrera, TUCP secretary-general.

"Retired and active government employees as well as their dependents have a right to be informed as to how our hard-earned contributions are being managed here and overseas. And GSIS officials have a duty to fully disclose the manner by which the funds are being invested," Herrera, a former senator, said.

Last year, the GSIS said it would invest up to $1 billion or P47 billion abroad under a new global investment program. Recently, however, senators have called into question the program's wisdom, amid the worsening global financial crisis set off by the sub prime mortgage meltdown in the US.

The crisis has taken its toll on at least seven large Philippine commercial banks that have so far reported $386 million (P18.1 billion) in losses on account of their exposures to Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.

The 158-year-old US investment bank sought bankruptcy protection on Sept. 15 due to staggering losses brought about by spoiled investments in housing mortgages. The investments failed as a result of surging foreclosures and plunging home prices in the US.

Herrera, former chairman of the Senate labor, employment and human resources development committee, assailed the GSIS for treating the funds that it holds in trust "as if these are private funds for which they are not directly accountable."

He added: "Why is the GSIS being so secretive? Why can't they just come clean and tell us where the money has been parked so that pensioners and members can sleep better at night?"

"Right now, the only thing we know about the $1 billion is that it is supposedly being managed by Credit Agricole Asset Management Ltd. and ING Investment Management, and that Citibank N.A. is the fund custodian," Herrera said.

This means that New York-based Citibank has custody of the funds, but moves the money as instructed by managers at Paris-based Credit Agricole and Amsterdam-based ING.

The GSIS earlier said the money it has hoarded overseas has not been affected by the financial distress "because the funds have been oriented more toward Europe than the US."

"That is a lame excuse for the continuing secrecy and utter lack of transparency. The truth is, Europe has been among the hardest hit by the global financial crunch sparked by widespread defaults on low-grade home mortgages in the US," Herrera pointed out.

He added that several banks and investment funds in the United Kingdom, Germany, France and Switzerland have either collapsed or have been bailed out by their governments.

"No financial instrument is absolutely safe nowadays -- not even traditional money market funds that had to be backed with $50 billion by the US government a few days ago just so (fund) managers can service withdrawals at face value," Herrera said.

Philippine Teachers Decry Poor Working Conditions, Delay In Benefits

Filipino teachers during the World Teachers' Day celebration in Manila. Many teachers accuse the government of ignoring their plight and urge President Gloria Arroyo to carry out true reforms that will benefit not only the teachers, but all state employees.

MANILA, Philippines (Mindanao Examiner / Oct. 06, 2007) – About a thousand teachers held a peaceful rally in Manila, coinciding with the World Teachers’ Day, to assert their rights and call attention to poor working conditions of the country’s more than a half a million government teachers.

Most of those who joined the assembly were from four national teachers’ unions - the National Federation of Teachers for Democracy (NAFTED), Teachers Dignity Coalition (TDC), the Teachers and Employees Association for Change, Education, Reforms and Solidarity (TEACHERS, Inc.), and the Teachers’ Organization in the Philippine Public Sector (TOPPS).

Rey Jesuitas, TOPPS president, said the education crisis haunting the Philippines is partly due to the deplorable working conditions and lamentable pay of public school teachers.

He said the teachers were urging Manila to carry out reform in the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) policies that will address their plight.

They also urged the government to appoint a new GSIS president who can undertake important reforms that will benefit not only the teachers, but all government employees.

The GSIS oversees the social security benefits of government employees estimated at more than 1.5 million. At present, a lawyer from Cebu province, Winston Garcia, is the GSIS president.

“We therefore call the government to reform the GSIS. This will be possible only if Garcia is sacked and replaced by an official who is transparent and has genuine concern for public sector workers,” Jesuitas said in a statement sent to the Mindanao Examiner.

Militant labor groups allied with government labor unions have previously protested Garcia’s continued stay at the GSIS and blamed him for the delays in loans and other state benefits of civil workers.

The teachers who joined the rally have given a failing grade on Garcia’s performance as president of the GSIS.

“As teachers, we decided to come up with a report card to rate how Garcia has fared so far in managing the national pension fund of government workers and he failed,” Jesuitas said.

“Garcia was rated in terms of financial management, efficiency of operations, transparency and accountability, consultation and participation, consistency and service orientation. He received a failing grade in all, getting below the 75% standard passing average, and even got a 0 rating in transparency and accountability and in service orientation.”

“Garcia completely deserves to get a failing grade. In fact, I believe he should have gotten zero in all areas. GMA (President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo) is to blame too for the woes of the teachers and other government workers, after all Garcia is there primarily because of GMA,” he said.