MANILA, Jan. 31 (PNA) — President Benigno S. Aquino III has approved the abolition of three government-owned and controlled corporations linked to the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) mess.
In a statement, Deputy Presidential Spokesperson Abigail Valte said this was in pursuit of maximizing efficiency and promoting accountability.
“The decision to abolish them was based on a financial viability and relevance to national development plans study conducted by the Governance Commission for GOCCs (GCG), which is the regulatory agency for such corporations,” Valte added.
“From the start of his administration, President Aquino has pursued a policy of promoting efficiency in government corporations, to ensure that they serve as a means for fostering national development and not as a conduit or facilitator of selfish agendas and crimes,” she said.
She noted these GOCCs had been implicated as conduits of fake PDAF allocations. They include: Philippine Forest Corporation (PFC); ZNAC Rubber Estate (ZREC); and National Agri-Business Corporation (NABCOR).
“Seeing that the three agencies neither fulfill the purposes for which they were created, nor had a tangible social impact, and that furthermore, they were no longer financially viable, the President gave his clearance for the formation of a Technical Working Group to wind down operations and transfer relevant functions and operations, as well as to attend to the separation pay for employees in keeping with Civil Service rules,” Valte said.
But she added any separation packages will be withheld for those found to have committed graft or other corrupt practices.
Also, Valte said these GOCCs may not be the last to be abolished.
“More GOCCs may be abolished as the GCG fulfills its mandate to rationalize the government-owned and controlled corporations of the country,” she said. (PNA)