Privilege Speech of Senator Risa Hontiveros on GSIS
August 5, 2025
Privilege Speech of Senator Risa Hontiveros on GSIS
August 5, 2025
Mr. President, dear colleagues, I rise on a point of personal and collective privilege.
Nitong nakaraang Hulyo ay nabalitaan natin ang pagpataw ng preventive suspension kay Government Service Insurance System President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo "Wick" Veloso, at anim pang opisyal.
The facts which led to these suspensions are nothing short of alarming. Ano ba itong pinaggagagawa ng GSIS sa pera nating mga kawani ng pamahalaan?
Dear colleagues, habang seryosong itinutulak ng Senado ang mga panukalang batas ukol sa e-gambling, mukhang may isa pang klase ng pagwawaldas ng pera na dapat nating bantayan.
Yung pondong inaasahan ng mga pampublikong manggagawa na magbunga sa takdang panahon, matapos itabi at hulugan ay mistulang isinusugal at ipinapatalo ng mga opisyal ng GSIS.
Let's look at the numbers. At present, GSIS has P1.83 Trillion in total assets. P1.83 trillion iyan mula sa sama-samang pangarap at pagsisikap ng ating mga kawani sa gobyerno, na buwan buwan ay kinakaltasan ang sahod bilang contributions sa GSIS.
2,736,710. Ganyan naman po karami ang mga miyembro at pensyonado natin sa ilalim ng GSIS. Sila ang ating mga guro, pulis, traffic enforcers, doktor at nurse sa pampublikong ospital, empleyado sa lokal na pamahalaan. At, siyempre maging mga kasamahan natin dito sa Senado, kayong mga masisipag nating katrabaho sa Senate Proper at Senate Secretariat.
With millions of Filipinos depending on GSIS for their pensions and other benefits, GSIS investments should be made in a sound, safe, and liquid manner, in compliance with regulations designed for that purpose.
Ang problema, mukhang ang mismong liderato pa ng GSIS ang hindi sumusunod sa mga alituntunin na iyan.
In recent weeks, new articles have started to shine light on the P1 billion investment of GSIS in online gambling platform DigiPlus.
You heard that right, Mr. President and dear colleagues. Pinaka-nakakagulat sa lahat, nag-invest ang GSIS ng lagpas P1 billion sa online sugal!
Pinasok ito ng GSIS when Digiplus' shares were being offered at a peak of P65.30. Those shares have since hit a low of P13.68. LUGI NA!
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?
Sa ngayon, tayo sa Senado at pati ang House of Representatives, maging ang Malacañang ay lahat gumagawa ng malalakas na inisyatiba, paninindigan laban sa online sugal dahil sa masasasamang social costs nito.
So why is GSIS doing the opposite? Why is GSIS investing the retirement money of public servants to seemingly expand the e-gaming industry? We need explanations.
And unfortunately, Mr. President, this is just the tip of the iceberg.
By law, GSIS has the fiduciary duty to invest the contributions of its members wisely, ensuring they meet the requirements of "liquidity, safety or security, and yield to guarantee the actuarial solvency of the funds."
Eh dapat lang naman 'no! Isipin niyo, buwan buwan kayo, buwan buwan tayo naghuhulog sa GSIS. Yung mga nagtatrabaho sa gobyerno, gaano katagal na kayo? 10, 20, 30 years? Tapos hindi pala inaalagaan, hindi pala sinisiguro, hindi pala ginagarantiya yung pondo natin. Pagdating ng panahon, wala pala kayong tatanggaping pensyon?
It appears that there is a pattern of reckless and questionable investment decisions by the current GSIS leadership. The guardrails we have put in place to guide and protect GSIS investments ARE SEEMINGLY BEING BREACHED.
Remember that preventive suspension on Mr. Veloso and other GSIS officials? That was imposed in connection with the Php1.45 billion subscription agreement entered into by the GSIS with Alternergy Holdings Corporation, for the purchase of 100 million of the latter's Perpetual Preferred Shares.
A quick look at the GSIS-Alternergy deal reveals multiple red flags. According to the Ombudsman, Mr. Veloso and his fellow GSIS officials may have committed serious misconduct when they entered into an agreement to purchase Alternergy's Perpetual Preferred Shares without the approval of the GSIS Board of Trustees, and in clear violation of the GSIS's own investment policies and guidelines.
GSIS entered into this multi-billion peso deal without the necessary indorsements from the GSIS' Assets and Liabilities and Risk Oversight Committees.
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.
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?
Ang malala pa, Mr. President, hindi nag-iisa ang Alternergy. Ayon sa Annual Audit Report ng Commission on Audit noong 2023, nag-invest ang GSIS ng hanggang P2.38 billion sa tatlong publicly-listed companies, kasama na itong Alternergy.
All three companies had not demonstrated a "proven track record of profitability over the last three years and payment of dividends at least once over the same period," in clear violation of the Revised GSIS Act.
Sadly, the GSIS has already suffered a ₱251.37 million valuation loss on these equity bets. P251.37 million valuation loss! This is no longer risk-taking. Pagtatapon na ito ng pera!
And Mr. President, the COA grimly warns that this is just the beginning, since the investments could undermine the actuarial solvency of the pension fund and place members' savings at risk.
We cannot dismiss COA's warnings, especially when GSIS is already exposed to other risky and problematic investments.
You know, in fact, let's not call them "investments". These are, plain and simple, bad bets.
Along with GSIS's questionable investment in online gambling, there is also the continuing 0.82% stake of GSIS in Del Monte Pacific, a company "teetering under 2.3 billion US DOLLARS in debt" and facing massive write-offs.
This investment has already incurred an estimated paper loss of P19.1 million for GSIS, representing a 32.5% decline in its stake.
Pero sa kabila ng matinding paalala sa mga opisyal noong bumagsak na ang halaga, hindi pa rin umaatras ang GSIS sa Del Monte Pacific. Mukhang pinaglalaruan at hinahayaan lang masayang ang pera ng ating mga lingkod-bayan.
Mr. President and dear colleagues, this is why the Senate should act swiftly to review the policies, procedures, and guidelines covering the GSIS's investments decisions.
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.
Ngayon kasi, mukhang may pagkakaiba ang intepretasyon ng GSIS Act ang GSIS at COA ukol sa investment options nito.
The COA was of the opinion that the GSIS was limited to investing in securities of companies with a "proven track record of profitability over the last three years and payment of dividends at least once over the same period." However, GSIS argues that these parameters are not restrictive, but rather only enumerated investments requiring reporting to Congress.
Kaya dapat na itong tingnan, pag-aralan at aksyunan ng Senado. Kung kailangan iamyenda ang GSIS Act, gawin na natin. We must update the law and erect the necessary guardrails for GSIS investments, to protect its members amid ever-evolving financial markets.
Mr. President, dear colleagues, 2.7 million GSIS members, survivor pensioners, and their families are counting on the Senate's decisive action.
Kapakanan ng bawat pampublikong manggagawa ang nakasalalay dito. Ang bawat teacher, lalo na yung pa-retire na at nahihirapan nang tumayo sa harap ng klase. Ang bawat pulis o traffic enforcer na araw-araw nagtitiis sa gitna ng init o ulan. Ang napakaraming health workers, social workers, at maging mga empleyado dito sa Senado, na nagtatrabaho ng maayos, marangal, at may malasakit.
Mr. President, dear colleagues, sana ay agaran tayong kumilos, para sa lahat ng Pilipinong umaasa na balang araw, yung kanilang retirement fund mula sa maraming taon ng sakripisyo at serbisyo publiko ay magdudulot naman ng ginhawa.
Ang pensyon ng pampublikong sektor, hindi pangsugal. GSIS SHOULD NOT WASTE OR GAMBLE away the future of those who serve our nation.
Maraming salamat po.
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