Science secretary Peña is highest paid in Duterte Cabinet – COA

Science and Technology Secretary Fortunato Dela Peña is the highest paid Cabinet member, earning more than P3.29 million according to the Commission on Audit's 2017 Report on Salaries and Allowances (ROSA).

Included in Dela Peña's income was his P1.8 million basic salary; honoraria worth P37,500; allowances valued at P725,409.99; bonuses amounting to P354,650; P336,000 worth of discretionary and extraordinary miscellaneous expenses. He also had a "prior years' adjustment" worth P10,691.61.

Department of Energy chief Alfonso Cusi placed second with combined earnings of P3.2 million.

More than half of Cusi's income came from his basic salary of P1.8 million; followed by his discretionary and extraordinary miscellaneous expenses worth P336,000; allowances that reached P341,000; bonuses valued at P317,650; adjustment of P115,617.12; and honoraria worth P24,000.

Former Commission on Higher Education Patricia Licuanan (P3.158 million) and resigned Justice Secretary Vitaliano Aguirre II (P3 million) ranked third and fourth, respectively.

Licuanan received honoraria worth P120,600; allowances pegged at P413,610; bonuses amounting to P404,106; and discretionary and extraordinary miscellaneous expenses that reached P336,000 before she resigned in January. This is aside from her basic salary of P1.88 million.

Aguirre, who resigned from the Cabinet in April, had a basic salary of P1.8 million. He also received allowances worth P484,290; bonuses worth P386,777.12; discretionary and extraordinary miscellaneous expenses of P336,000; and honoraria worth P24,000.

Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III completed the top five highest paid Cabinet members in 2017 with  P2.98 million.

More than P1.8 million of Bello's income came from his annual salary. He also had honoraria worth P28,000; allowances of P424,842.31; bonuses that reached P314,650; other incentives worth P113,549.44; adjustments of P37,500; and discretionary and extraordinary miscellaneous expenses amounting to P229,700.

The top 10 meanwhile included Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez (P2.915 million), Public Works and Highways chief Mark Villar (P2.869 million), Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol (P2.85 million), Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea (P2.83 million), and former Tourism Secretary Wanda Teo (P2.828 million).

The same ROSA also placed Solicitor General Jose Calida as the lone Cabinet-ranked official who made the list of the top 10 highest paid government executives. His P10.9-million earnings ranked fourth on the list dominated by executives of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas.

Least paid execs

In contrast, former Interior and Local Government Secretary Ismael Sueno is the Cabinet official who had the least earnings in 2017, with an income of P604,277. His term was cut short in April when he was fired by President Rodrigo Duterte.

Foreign Affairs Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, who was seven months into his tenure, received only P1.386 million. His income is composed of his basic salary of P1.135 million; honoraria worth P14,909.09; allowances amounting to P73,500; and P162,325 worth of bonuses.

Other Cabinet officials listed at the bottom of the 2017 ROSA include Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Danilo Lim (P1.53 million), Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Roy Cimatu (P1.71 million), and then-Presidential Spokesperson and now DFA Undersecretary Ernesto Abella (P1.845 million).

Duterte's Cabinet secretaries who failed to secure the approval of the Commission on Appointments were also included in the ROSA.

They are former Health Secretary Paulyn Jean Ubial who earned P2.75 million, former Agrarian Reform Secretary Rafael Mariano who received P1.968 million, and former Social Welfare and Development Secretary Judy Taguiwalo at P1.859 million.

The ROSA also reported the earnings of former Information and Communications Technology chief Rodolfo Salalima, and sacked Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chairman Terry Ridon, who received P2.16 million and P2.118 million, respectively. — NB/DVM, GMA News