Alcala is highest paid exec in Cabinet

MANILA, Philippines - Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, who is facing several plunder complaints before the Office of the Ombudsman, is still the highest paid Cabinet member of the Aquino administration.

The Commission on Audit (COA), in a 2013 Report of Salaries and Allowances (ROSA) released Thursday, said Alcala earned more than P4.217 million in salaries and other allowances last year.

Alcala, who was also the highest paid Cabinet member in 2012 with an annual income of P6.04 million, received P1.085 million in basic salary, P29,000 in honoraria, P577,939.18 in allowances, P127,190 in bonuses and incentives, and P291,999.95 in discretionary funds.

Alcala also received compensation as council chairman of the National Food Authority (NFA), for which he got an additional P2.105 million in 2013.

The COA report said Alcala also sat in the governing boards of government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) like the National Agri-Business Corp. (Nabcor) and the ZNAC Rubber Estate Corp., which have both been implicated in the pork barrel fund scam, but received little or no compensation for the same.

Alcala is a respondent in a number of plunder and graft cases lodged before the Office of the Ombudsman, which accuse him of involvement in various anomalies.

The latest filed by the group Youth Act Now earlier this week linked him to the pork barrel fund scam masterminded allegedly by businesswoman Janet Lim-Napoles.

Students and youth organizations accused him of giving P75 million to bogus non-government organizations (NGOs) as Quezon province congressman and as agriculture secretary.

Alcala dubbed the plunder charge as a nuisance complaint anchored on baseless and unfounded allegations filed by groups or individuals with hidden agendas.

The COA report identified Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Secretary Rosalinda Baldoz as the second highest paid Cabinet official of the Aquino government, who received recieved P2.294 million in 2013.

Justice Secretary Leila de Lima ranked third with a P2.188-million paycheck, followed by Health Secretary Enrique Ona and Commission on Higher Education Chairman Patricia Licuanan who got P2.164 million and P2.102 million, respectively.

Completing the Top 10 are Energy Secretary Carlos Jericho Petilla with P2.062 million, Budget Secretary Florencio Abad with P2.018 million, Science and Technology Secretary Mario Montejo with P1.99 million, Transportation Secretary Joseph Emilio Abaya with P1.921 million and Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin who got P1.916 million in salaries and other allowances last year.

Based on COA’s list, Presidential Management Staff Secretary Julia Andrea Abad got P1.404 million, Tourism Secretary Ramon Jimenez Jr. got P1.392 million and National Commission on Muslim Filipinos Secretary Mehol Sadain with P1.351 million, are the lowest paid Cabinet members.

For GOCC officials, Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president and general manager Robert Vergara was 2013’s highest paid with a total income of P12.088 million.

Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) president and chief executive officer (CEO) Gilda Pico comes second with P10.292 million and Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Amando Tetangco Jr. on third spot with P9.988 million.

In 2012, Vergara was also the highest paid official of the government who received P16.364 million, followed by Development Bank of the Philippines senior executive vice president Ma. Theresa Quirino with P13.767 million and Tetangco with P9.759 million.