GSIS chief on a warpath for transparency at Meralco
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 15:26:00 05/01/2008
Filed Under: Economy, Business & Finance
MANILA, Philippines -- Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) President and General Manager Winston Garcia demanded yesterday full transparency and accountability in the operations, transactions and contracts entered into by the Manila Electric Company (Meralco).
Lamenting Meralco management's "dirt rag" treatment of GSIS despite its four seats in the utility's 11-member board, Garcia said the GSIS is fed up with the lack of transparency prevailing at Meralco.
Garcia categorically denied that GSIS is out to wrest control of Meralco, either for itself or for the Philippine government, explaining that the latter has a long-standing privatization policy.
"Claims of takeover are utterly false and malicious, and are obviously intended to undermine and divert attention away from the GSIS campaign to bring back social responsibility and good corporate governance to Meralco," said Garcia.
He pointed out that the GSIS is not the Philippine government despite its being government-owned. "Clearly, the bogeyman being raised by GSIS critics is nothing more than squid tactic to preserve the appalling status quo at Meralco," he said.
As a utility, Meralco's operation is imbued with public interest, aside from the interest of its shareholders like GSIS, said Garcia. He added that despite repeated requests for access to corporate documents, Meralco has not responded.
"If Meralco's management can get away with bloody murder against its very shareholders, what more when it comes to the general public and its customers, who ultimately pay the high price of unjustifiably high electricity bills due to corporate mismanagement and shenanigans," said Garcia.
"For the record, what we have at Meralco is the very same management who twice over has been found by the Supreme Court to be overcharging Meralco's customers, including GSIS members," he said.
"Yes, the Supreme Court ordered Meralco to refund its customers. Nonetheless, I believe its management would not have undertaken the refund if it had not been caught by the Supreme Court charging its customers excessively, thereby in effect stealing away from the poor."
He said the overcharging was just the "tip of the iceberg."
Garcia cited as "another instance of corporate mischief" Meralco's acquisition of an insurance company from whom it bought insurance coverage under dubious circumstances.
" This insurance company has reinsured Meralco with a Bahamas-based insurance firm which in turn, reinsured the same to another Philippine-based insurance company," he said.
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