Here and There

By September 24, 2008Archives, Opinion

Stewing over GSIS Manager Winston’s ‘mismanagement’

By Gerry Garcia

WHAT has long peeved the millions of subordinate members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is the extended office term of Winston Garcia, highly paid millionaire head of the system who has been at the helm since he was under critical probe a few years ago through the government’s lifestyle check for officials who can not satisfactorily account for additional personal finances grossly disproportionate to their government salary.

This has given some members of the GSIS, like public school teachers, an excuse to rally at the system’s head office in Pasay City to call on PGMA to replace GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia. They want an end to “unjust and unfair” policies allegedly being implemented by Garcia.

A group of retired teachers said they are reduced to virtually begging the GSIS for their hard-earned pension and other benefits while others retire without even receiving a centavo of their expected pension.

Seems manager Garcia is not adequately updating GSIS records on teachers’ premium payments, deducting too much from members’ benefits when the office they work for does not forward their premium payments.

****

Earlier this month, shortly after some complaining GSIS members, camped out at the Pasay City head office of the system to call for President Arroyo’s replacement of Garcia as GSIS president and general manager, a retired government employee and 3 public school teachers went one full step ahead: they filed two separate complaints at the Office of the Ombudsman asking for or, to be more exact, demanding the suspension for six months of President Garcia, his vice president and treasurer Consuelo Manansala, and the entire board of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

The members’ complaint: graft, misconduct and malversation of public funds for depositing about P10.3 million of state funds in the bank account of Manansala.

(Readers may reach columnist at sundaypunch2@yahoo.com. For past columns, click http://sundaypunch.prepys.com/archives/category/opinion/here-and-there/ For reactions to this column, click “Send MESSAGES, OPINIONS, COMMENTS” on default page.)

Share your Comments or Reactions

comments

Powered by Facebook Comments