Lawmaker says no time for 17th Congress to pass governance commission bill
Published Oct 27, 2018 02:12 pm
By Charissa Luci-Atienza
Due to lack of time, a lawmaker said the 17th Congress will not be able to pass the measure seeking to abolish the Governance Commission for Government-Owned and Controlled Corporations (GCG).
Rep. Rodel Batocabe
(Ako Bicol Partylist via Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) "No chance for the bill to be passed this 17th Congress," AKO BICOL party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe, chairman of the Technical Working Group (TWG) of the House Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization, said in an interview. But he said the House continues to count on the GCG to fully exercise its oversight function and ensure that there is a level playing field among the GOCCs and the private firms. "Even if this bill is not passed in Congress, there will be measures that will be filed seeking the abolition of GCG," said Batocabe, the principal author of the bill. During the TWG meeting of the House Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization last Tuesday, he asked GCG chairman Samuel Dagpin Jr. to ensure that GCG fully exercises its oversight function and repackages itself as a genuine defender of the government’s interest. Batocabe said the GCG became another bureaucratic layer in the already confounded structure of checks and balances, which takes up valuable time and resources of the GOCCs. “In line with the call of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in his Budget Message, Fical Year: 2017 to eliminate redundant, duplicative, and overlapping functions and organizations in the executive branch, the repeal of Republic Act 10149, abolishing the Governance Commission for GOCCs is necessary,” he said. In a 16-page position paper submitted to the same House committee, Dagpin and commissioners Michael Cloribel and Marites Doral said the functions of GCG “do not overlap with the functions of other agencies” including the Commission on Audit (COA), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) and the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC). “The GCG has no overlapping functions with COA in terms of accounting and expenditure of funds and properties of the government; NEDA, in terms of economic development and planning, and joint venture activities; GPPB, in terms of all its procurement projects; and OGCC as the statutory counsel of all GOCCs,” they said.
Rep. Rodel Batocabe(Ako Bicol Partylist via Facebook / MANILA BULLETIN) "No chance for the bill to be passed this 17th Congress," AKO BICOL party-list Rep. Rodel Batocabe, chairman of the Technical Working Group (TWG) of the House Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization, said in an interview. But he said the House continues to count on the GCG to fully exercise its oversight function and ensure that there is a level playing field among the GOCCs and the private firms. "Even if this bill is not passed in Congress, there will be measures that will be filed seeking the abolition of GCG," said Batocabe, the principal author of the bill. During the TWG meeting of the House Committee on Government Enterprises and Privatization last Tuesday, he asked GCG chairman Samuel Dagpin Jr. to ensure that GCG fully exercises its oversight function and repackages itself as a genuine defender of the government’s interest. Batocabe said the GCG became another bureaucratic layer in the already confounded structure of checks and balances, which takes up valuable time and resources of the GOCCs. “In line with the call of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte in his Budget Message, Fical Year: 2017 to eliminate redundant, duplicative, and overlapping functions and organizations in the executive branch, the repeal of Republic Act 10149, abolishing the Governance Commission for GOCCs is necessary,” he said. In a 16-page position paper submitted to the same House committee, Dagpin and commissioners Michael Cloribel and Marites Doral said the functions of GCG “do not overlap with the functions of other agencies” including the Commission on Audit (COA), National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Government Procurement Policy Board (GPPB) and the Office of the Government Corporate Counsel (OGCC). “The GCG has no overlapping functions with COA in terms of accounting and expenditure of funds and properties of the government; NEDA, in terms of economic development and planning, and joint venture activities; GPPB, in terms of all its procurement projects; and OGCC as the statutory counsel of all GOCCs,” they said.