Ex-Ombudsman Gutierrez not qualified as board member — GSIS
THE Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has recently made a legal conclusion that one of its board members, former Ombudsman Merceditas Gutierrez, is not qualified to be a Trustee for not being a member of the government insurer at the time of her appointment in April last year.
In a letter to Executive Secretary and former Supreme Court Chief Justice Lucas Bersamin dated April 11, 2024, GSIS President and General Manager Jose Arnulfo Veloso submitted what he described as the findings of the GSIS “in relation to a whistleblowing complaint” against Gutierrez.
Veloso said the complaint was in the form of an anonymous email claiming that Gutierrez “failed to possess the mandatory qualifications required by the GSIS Charter (RA No. 8291) when she was appointed to the GSIS Board.”
“I respectfully submit to you the findings of the Government Service Insurance System (the ‘GSIS’) ni relation to a whistleblowing complaint, which claimed that Trustee Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez failed to posses the mandatory qualifications required by the GSIS Charter (RA. . No. 8291) when she was appointed to the GSIS Board,” Veloso said.
Veloso provided a timeline from the time the GSIS received the anonymous email up to the conclusion of the state pension office’s study of the matter.
The timeline read as follows:
1. March 28, 2024 – GSIS received an anonymous email requesting for a validation of the qualifications of Trustee Ma. Merceditas Gutierrez when she was appointed to the GSIS Board. Furnished in the email were, inter alia, the GCG, CSC, GSIS BoT Chairman, GSI Whistleblowing Hotline, and the DOF Secretary.
2. April 1, 2024 – I requested the GSIS’ Core Business Sector (the ‘CBS’) for copies of the Trustee’s relevant GSIS records, which were thereafter submitted to me.
3. April 2, 2024 – I requested the GSIS’ Legal Services Group (the ‘LSG’) to prepare a study/briefer opining whether the Trustee possessed the required qualifications at the time of her appointment. The LSG was furnished with copies of relevant records.
4. April 8, 2024 – My office received the requested legal study/briefer, accompanied by supporting documents and an executive summary.
Gutierrez is a member of the GSIS Board representing the legal profession.
