SCIENCE Secretary Fortunato dela Peña has regained the distinction as the highest paid member of President Duterte’s Cabinet with total earnings placed at P5.003 million, according to the 2019 Report on Salaries and Allowances (ROSA) of government officials.
Dela Peña held the number one position in 2017 but relinquished it in 2018 to drop to second place behind Energy Secretary Alfonso Cusi.
All of Dela Peña’s pay came from the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), consisting of his basic salary, honorarium, allowances, bonuses, and extraordinary and miscellaneous expenses (EME). Year on year, his total pay increased by P865,000 from P4.138 million in 2018.
He also sat in the governing boards of the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (Tesda), the National Dairy Authority (NDA), and the Philippine Science High School System (PSHSS) but received no extra compensation.
While Dela Peña’s paycheck may have been the biggest in the Cabinet, he only ranked a lowly 159th in the list of 8,930 government officials top billed by executives of government financial institutions.
Sitting in second spot among the Cabinet members is Health Secretary Francisco Duque III with earnings of P4.882 million, up by P1.167 million from his 2018 pay of P3.715 million.
At third place is Cusi with P4.862 million in total wages consisting of P4.481 million as secretary of the Department of Energy and additional compensation of P234,300 as vice chairman of the Board of Directors of the Transmission Corp. and P146,800 as board chairman of the National Electrification Administration.
Other Cabinet men and women ranked by their pay total are:
4) Labor Secretary Silvestre Bello III — P4.758 million
5) Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra — P4.679 million
6) Higher Education Secretary Julian Prospero De Vera III – P4.645 million
7) Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III — 4.642 million
8) Agrarian Reform Secretary John Castriciones – P4.641 million
9) Public Works Secretary Mark Villar — P4.509 million
10) Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles — P4.501 million
11) Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez — P4.432 million
12) Social Welfare Secretary Rolando Joselito Bautista — P4.43 million
13) Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea — P4.416 million
14) Transportation Secretary Arthur Tugade — P4.392 million
15) Chief Presidential Legal Counsel and former spokesman Salvador Panelo — P4.373 million
16) Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat — P4.353 million
17) and 18) Economic Planning Secretary Ernesto Pernia and Presidential Communications Operations Office (PCOO) Secretary Martin Andanar – P4.323 million (same amount)
19) Foreign Affairs Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. — P4.32 million
20) former Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol — P4.242 million
21) National Security Council (NSC) director general Hermogenes Esperon Jr. — P4.224 million
22) Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process Carlito Galvez — P4.223 million
23) Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu — P4.212 million
24) Interior Secretary Eduardo Año — P4.162 million
25) Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana — P4.148 million
26) Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chairman Danilo Lim — P4.141 million
27) National Anti-Poverty Commission Secretary Noel Felongco — P4.128 million
28) Education Secretary Leonor Briones — P4.103 million
29) Technical Education Secretary Isidro Lapeña — P4.042 million
30) Former Information and Communications Technology acting Secretary Eliseo Rio Jr. — P3.782 million
31) DICT Secretary Gregorio Honasan II — P2.246 million
32) Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado — P3.15 million
33) DA Secretary William Dar — P1.665 million
