P58M wasted annually on ineligible Arroyo appointees – study

MANILA, Philippines - Filipino taxpayers shell out a hefty P58 million every year for ineligible officials appointed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo – money that could have been spent on nearly 60 decent classrooms this coming school year. Since December 2007, the Arroyo administration appointed 81 undersecretaries and assistant secretaries more than the 163 prescribed by law, said Dr. Toby Melissa Monsod in a paper she presented on Wednesday. Of those appointed by the President, 56 percent are not eligible for their posts. And the cost of the 81 excess appointees is P58 million every year. Monsod revealed that the number of incumbent undersecretaries and assistant secretaries over and above what the law or administrative order prescribes shows how extensively the President’s prerogative to appoint officials is being exercised. Aside from this, the practice of appointing non-career or non-eligible individuals into formal plantilla positions in government undermines the “merit and fitness" notion, which in turn propagates demoralization in the regular civil service. “This is not a trivial issue," Monsod said at the launch of the United Nation’s Development Program launch of the Philippine Human Development Report (PHDR). “Some 10,000 positions are the subject of presidential prerogative, including positions in provinces and cities far removed from the center, creating a wide venue for politicians to intervene in appointments," she added. With P58-million pesos, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said 58 new fully furbished classrooms would have been built for students in the Philippines. Lapus, who also attended the PHDR launch, said some 10,000 schools are still needed to be built in order to reach the ideal 1:45 classroom to student ratio. Monsod called for more transparency in the bureaucratic process of the government to curb unnecessary expenditure. Meanwhile, Lapus is still pushing for additional budget for education, which he said should be the top priority of the government. “If we really believe education is the tool to get us out of poverty, let’s put our money where our mouth is," he said. - GMANews.TV