DOST chief Dela Peña remains highest paid Cabinet secretary

Department of Science and Technology chief Fortunato Dela Peña has retained his spot as the highest paid official in the Cabinet of President Rodrigo Duterte, earning a total of P4.138 million in salaries and allowances in 2018.

According to the Report on Salaries and Allowances (ROSA) of the Commission on Audit, majority of Dela Peña's income came from his basic salary of P2.378 million. His total income increased by almost P1 million compared to his P3.29-million earnings in 2017.

Dela Peña also received allowances worth P888,767.66, bonuses and other benefits amounting to P496,463.12, discretionary and extraordinary miscellaneous expenses valued at P336,000, honoraria worth P24.000, and "prior years' adjustment" of P14,431.69.

A new entrant in the top 10, Education Secretary Leonor Briones, ranked second with combined earnings of P3.95 million, up from the P2.68-million income she reported in 2017.

Briones displaced erstwhile second placer Department of Energy chief Alfonso Cusi, who fell to fifth place.

The basic salary of Briones reached P2.378 million, allowances worth P613,872.23, discretionary funds of P477,616.63, bonuses and other benefits amounting to P415,872.25, and P24,000 in honoraria. She also had an adjustment worth P40,980.10.

Health Secretary Francisco Duque III and Finance chief Carlos Dominguez III also broke into the top five list of the ROSA, coming in third and fourth place, respectively.

Duque earned P3.714 million as DOH Secretary, while Dominguez had an income of P3.705 million. Both of them had a basic salary of P2.378 million and honoraria worth P24,000.

Duque received allowances worth P538,431.65, bonuses and other benefits of P426,336, and P348,000 in discretionary funds.

On the other hand, Dominguez also had bonuses and other benefits of P657,672.25, allowances of P338,100.60, and discretionary and extraordinary miscellaneous expenses worth P308,000.

Cusi earned a total of P3.529 million in 2018. Aside from his basic salary of P2.378 million, he also received bonuses and other benefits worth P431,336, discretionary funds of P336,000, allowances amounting to P335,000, honoraria of P24,000, and P25,000 in adjustment.

Other Cabinet secretaries included in the top 10 are Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade (P3.527 million), Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea (P3.492 million), Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III (P3.492 million), Agriculture Secretary Manny Piñol (P3.49 million), and Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez (P3.469 million).

Solicitor General Jose Calida, a Cabinet-ranked official, earned P12.47 million last year but he does not belong the "official family" of President Rodrigo Duterte.

Least paid execs

The Cabinet officials with the lowest income were mainly due to their late appointments.

Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chairman Alvin Feliciano earned P232,217.36 last year. He was named to the post only in November, and had a prior income of P1.856 million during his time as deputy director general of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.

Feliciano was followed by Department of Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Bautista, who assumed the post in October.

Bautista earned P368,055.74 during his less than three months service in 2018. Most of this came from his basic salary worth P294,055.74. —KBK, GMA News