IS GSIS MONEY BEING USED TO FINANCE SPEAKERSHIP BID?

In his column appearing in the June 16th online edition of Malaya, Lito Banayo has this to reveal: "A challenger is being accused of buying the votes of congressmen, allegedly using, not his money, but the funds of government employees tied up to the pension fund he manages."

This allegation is also coming from at least four congressmen who are accusing Winston Garcia of the same shenanigan. They allege that GSIS funds and assets are being used to finance the bid of someone from Cebu, related to the GSIS honcho, to unseat Jose De Venecia as House speaker.

Some reports claim that as much as P300,000 is being offered to any congressman whose support is crucial to clinch the speakership.

The GSIS is flushed with money as it has been witholding the pension of thousands of retirees and other beneficiaries for many months now.

It requires that they first register in the failed eCard program before their money can be released. But since the eCard does not work in many instances, the GSIS is able to hold on to their money, allowing it to earn interest. In the meantime, it has created a Catch-22 situation for the pensioners.

By rights, the interest that these monies earned should be given to the pensioners --it is their money, after all -- but now it seems clear why Garcia insists on punishing them with non-payment of their pension.

We shall leave it to our discerning readers where the pensioners' money is going in light of these ugly revelations.