THE former president of the United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB), Higinio Macadaeg Jr., topped the list of highest paid government executives last year, with earnings totaling P20.475 million in the 2019 Report of Salaries and Allowances (ROSA) released by the Commission on Audit on July 24.
Solicitor General Jose Calida secured second place after taking home P16.953 million. The Solgen jumped four places from sixth spot in the 2018 ROSA after his pay increased by P4.48 million year on year.
Third was Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) governor Benjamin Diokno with a full year’s income of P15.45 million. He joined BSP in March last year after he left his post as head of the Department of Budget and Management.
As DBM chief in 2018, Diokno was 316th top-earning government official with P3.44 million in total pay for that year.
Aside from Macadaeg’s P19.63 million total compensation as UCPB president, the COA report showed he also received allowances for sitting on the board of the company’s subsidiaries with P423,000 from UCPB Savings Bank Inc. (USB), P270,000 from UCPB Leasing and Finance Corporation (ULFC), and P18,000 from UCPB Securities Inc. (USI).
The 2019 ROSA list ranked 8,930 officials of the government based on their basic salaries, honorarium, allowances, bonuses and incentives, and discretionary or extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses (EME).
Included in the list are principal officers and members of governing boards of government-owned or controlled corporation (GOCCs) and their subsidiaries, department secretaries, undersecretaries, assistant secretaries and other officials of equivalent ranks from national government agencies.
Executives of government financial institutions (GFIs) occupied 17 places in the top 20 list.
Aside from Calida, the two other non-GFI officials in the list were Chief Justice Diosdado Peralta at 13th place with P10.37 million, and Justice Estela Perlas-Bernabe with P10.22 million, both from the Supreme Court.
The complete top 20 list:
1) Higinio Macadaeg Jr. (UCPB) — P20.47 million
2) Jose Calida (OSG) — P16.95 million
3) Benjamin Diokno (BSP) – P15.45 million
4) Eulogio Catabran III (UCPB) — P15.1 million
5) Maria Almasara Amador (BSP) — P14.605 million
6) Chuchi Fornacier (BSP) — P14.595 million
7) Dahlia Luna (BSP) — P12.24 million
8) Ma. Ramona Gertrudes Santiago (BSP) — P12.18 million
9) Edmond Bernardo (UCPB) — P11.59 million
10) Elmore Capule (BSP) — P11.42 million
11) Edna Villa (BSP) — P10.47 million
12) Benel Lagua (Development Bank of the Philippines) — P10.4 million
13) Diosdado Peralta (SC) — P10.37 million
14) Francisco Dakila Jr. (BSP) — P10.24 million
15) Iluminada Sicat (BSP) — P10.22 million
16) Estela Perlas-Bernabe (SC) — P10.22 million
17) Fe Susan Prado (DBP) — P10.21 million
18) Emmanuel Herbosa (DBP) — P10.16 million
19) Nestor Espenilla Jr. (+) (BSP) — P9.96 million
20) Victor Bruce Tolentino (BSP) — P9.83 million.
