MANILA, Philippines – Ibinulgar ni Senador Risa Hontiveros na namuhunan o naglagak ng pamuhunan ang Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) ng halagang P1 bilyon sa isang online gambling platform.
Sa kanyang privileged speech nitong Martes, sinabi ni Hontiveros na namuhunan ang GSIS, sa pamumuno ni suspended GSIS President Jose Arnulfo “Wick” Veloso, sa DigiPlus nang pumalo sa P65.30 ang bawat sapi ng online gambling platform.
“Those shares have since hit a low of P13.68. Lugi na,” ayon sa senador.
“In the first place, what was GSIS thinking, investing funds in online gambling? Eh, tayo nga po, mga kasamang nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno, ni hindi pwedeng tumungtong sa casino lalo na hindi pwedeng magsugal doon. Kaya bakit ang GSIS, todo taya, at ginawang puhunan ang pera ng public employees sa sugalan,” dagdag pa niya.
Ayon sa senador, mayroong tila “pattern of reckless and questionable investment decisions” sa kasalukuyang pamunuan ng GSIS.
“The guardrails we have put in place to guide and protect GSIS investments are seemingly being breached,” aniya.
Nitong Hulyo, sinuspinde ng Office of the Ombudsman si Veloso at anim pang opisyal ng GSIS nang walang sahod sa loob ng anim na buwan sa gitna ng imbestigasyon sa P1.4 bilyong deal sa Alternergy.
Sinabi ng Ombudsman na “found sufficient grounds to suspend Veloso and six other GSIS officials, considering that there is strong evidence showing their guilt” of possible grave misconduct, gross neglect of duty, and violation of reasonable office rules and regulations over the P1.4 billion stock purchase from Alternergy Holdings Corporation.
Sinabi pa ni Hontiveros na natuklasan ng kanyang tanggapan ang ilang red flags sa kasunduan ng GSIS at Alternergy.
“Glaringly, Alternergy’s market capitalization was far below the P15 billion minimum reportedly required under GSIS policy for investible companies. The shares were not even listed with the Philippine Stock Exchange on the dates of the execution of the agreement and the payment of the subscription,” ayon kay Hontiveros.
“Even worse, Alternergy also appears to be ‘highly overleveraged.’ Simply put, they have too much debt, with a debt-to-equity ratio of 194% and a dangerously low interest coverage rate. Paano nakapagdeklara ng P40 million cash dividend ang kompanya na iyan, eh puro sila utang, at in financial distress na?” himutok ng senador.
Ayon sa senador, kailangan imbestigahan ng Senado ang insidente at rebyuhin ang patakaran, mga proseso, at mga alituntunin sa pamumuhunan ng GSIS.
“We should strengthen GSIS’s investment policy compliance and oversight. We should increase transparency and accountability in their investments. And we should plug policy gaps and clarify ambiguities,” aniya.
“Ang pensyon ng pampublikong sektor, hindi pangsugal [The pension of the public sector is not for gambling]. GSIS should not waste or gamble away the future of those who serve our nation,” giit ng senadora. Ernie Reyes
