EDUCATION SECRETARY HITS A BRICK WALL

The education secretary has a beef with the GSIS for its failure to address the discrepancies in its records with regard to teachers' contributions in the pension fund.

He complains that instead of facing the issue headlong, the GSIS resorts to propaganda using its vast media resources to drown out his legitimate complaint on behalf of the teachers.

"These problems can't be solved with GSIS public relations campaigns but with the real overhaul of GSIS members' servicing system," said Secretary Jeslie Lapus, according to a report in a Manila newspaper.

"Our teachers are the biggest contributors to GSIS. It is only proper that they be given special attention by GSIS," he said. But his grievance has hit a brick wall.

Winston Garcia, acting totally in character, pushed back, saying it is Lapus who is to blame. The GSIS, he said, is "ready to make the necessary corrections as long as the DepEd submits to us the updated service records."

The only problem here is that Garcia's rhetoric does not match the reality.

The aggrieved teachers, however, should not lose hope. His protector, the corrupt Macapagal-Arroyo regime, is now on its death throes.

When the time comes, people should look back at the tenure of this totally inept bureaucrat to find out to what the extent his incompetence has harmed the public he is supposed to serve.