SUBIC BAY FREEPORT—Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza said he is ready to face any inquiry by the Senate or the House of Representatives to present proof that he did not receive a P26.9-million salary in 2009.
Arreza, who has refuted recent news reports that placed him as the highest-paid government official in the country, stated that SBMA’s operational expenses should not have been incorporated with his personal income.
He added that should the Senate or the House push through with its probe on excessive and unwarranted salaries and other perks received by top government officials, he will give his full cooperation to the authorities.
Arreza added that he expects the CoA itself to clarify the misleading information about his salary.
“I have already talked with CoA officials, and they promised to issue a clarification on the subject,” Arreza said on Thursday.
“In our initial talks, the CoA officials agreed that I was right all along — that the funds in question were not some allowance for personal benefits, but were actually operating expenses for the agency.”
Arreza said he is taking advantage of this “unwarranted publicity” to shed light on the issue.
He said that since Monday, he has already appeared on various media programs and conferences to clarify that his monthly take-home pay is only P95,449 from his gross income of P130,888.77 per month.
“Maganda rin namang mapag-usapan ito, dahil kailangang maging transparent talaga kung magkano ang sweldo ng mga empleyado ng pamahalaan, said Arreza. “Palagay ko naman ay karamihan sa amin ay nais ring kumita ng marangal ,” he added.
According to Arreza, the CoA mistakenly included SBMA operational funds for extraordinary, miscellaneous and intelligence purposes with his personal income, resulting to a bloated salary of P26.9-million.
He identified these operational funds as the P15-million intelligence fund, which he said was actually determined by the Office of the President, and some P18-P19 million in SBMA’s extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses last year.
“Anybody who has run a corporation or a company would tell you that you really cannot plan for all exigencies — that’s why there is such a thing as discretionary or extraordinary or miscellaneous funds,” he added.
Arreza explained further that he cannot use these funds for personal benefit, since the CoA undertakes pre-auditing of the funds prior to disbursement.
Arreza also said that his name, as well as those of others in CoA’s list of highest-paid public officials, should be cleared once proven that their inclusion resulted from some mistake.
“Just like what happened to (Clark Development Corp. president) Benny Ricafort, my wife, too, has become suspicious when this report came out. Of course, it took a lot of explaining to convince her that I have not actually stashed any part of my supposed multi-million income,” Arreza said.
Arreza, who has refuted recent news reports that placed him as the highest-paid government official in the country, stated that SBMA’s operational expenses should not have been incorporated with his personal income.
He added that should the Senate or the House push through with its probe on excessive and unwarranted salaries and other perks received by top government officials, he will give his full cooperation to the authorities.
Arreza added that he expects the CoA itself to clarify the misleading information about his salary.
“I have already talked with CoA officials, and they promised to issue a clarification on the subject,” Arreza said on Thursday.
“In our initial talks, the CoA officials agreed that I was right all along — that the funds in question were not some allowance for personal benefits, but were actually operating expenses for the agency.”
Arreza said he is taking advantage of this “unwarranted publicity” to shed light on the issue.
He said that since Monday, he has already appeared on various media programs and conferences to clarify that his monthly take-home pay is only P95,449 from his gross income of P130,888.77 per month.
“Maganda rin namang mapag-usapan ito, dahil kailangang maging transparent talaga kung magkano ang sweldo ng mga empleyado ng pamahalaan, said Arreza. “Palagay ko naman ay karamihan sa amin ay nais ring kumita ng marangal ,” he added.
According to Arreza, the CoA mistakenly included SBMA operational funds for extraordinary, miscellaneous and intelligence purposes with his personal income, resulting to a bloated salary of P26.9-million.
He identified these operational funds as the P15-million intelligence fund, which he said was actually determined by the Office of the President, and some P18-P19 million in SBMA’s extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses last year.
“Anybody who has run a corporation or a company would tell you that you really cannot plan for all exigencies — that’s why there is such a thing as discretionary or extraordinary or miscellaneous funds,” he added.
Arreza explained further that he cannot use these funds for personal benefit, since the CoA undertakes pre-auditing of the funds prior to disbursement.
Arreza also said that his name, as well as those of others in CoA’s list of highest-paid public officials, should be cleared once proven that their inclusion resulted from some mistake.
“Just like what happened to (Clark Development Corp. president) Benny Ricafort, my wife, too, has become suspicious when this report came out. Of course, it took a lot of explaining to convince her that I have not actually stashed any part of my supposed multi-million income,” Arreza said.
