GOVERNMENT Service Insurance System (GSIS) President and General Manager (PGM) Jesus Clint O. Aranas said he resigned Tuesday, for “personal reasons” according to his communications staff.

In his resignation letter addressed to President Rodrigo R. Duterte, Mr. Aranas tendered his resignation as the head of the state-run pension fund effective July 2.

“I resign, secure in the knowledge that I have unwaveringly advanced the interest of GSIS and its members in discharging the functions of the said office always in obeisance to all laws and never once compromising my integrity or that of the office I now relinquish,” Mr. Aranas said.

GSIS Vice President for Corporate Communications Margie A. Jorillo confirmed the resignation to BusinessWorld, saying Mr. Aranas stepped down for “personal reasons.”

“As of now, designation of OIC (officer in charge)-PGM, subject to GSIS Board approval,” Ms. Jorillo said in a text message when asked what the GSIS leadership is focusing on.

In a separate message, Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea confirmed that the Office of the President (OP) received the resignation letter.

“Yes, it has but he did not disclose his reason,” Mr. Medialdea said.

Mr. Aranas’s resignation came days after the pension fund was ordered by the Commission on Audit to return about P260.5 million from the pension fund’s Galing ng Pagkilala incentive, finding that this was disbursed without the approval of the OP and the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

“Foregoing considered, the grant of Pagkilala incentive, without the prior recommendation and approval of the DBM and Office of the President, respectively, resulted in illegal expenditure which is not allowed in audit,” the CoA said in its 2018 annual audit of GSIS.

The GSIS also announced recently that it will go ahead with the sale of a portion of Manila North Harbor, which is operated by the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. (ICTSI). The port operator claims the pension fund has no authority to do so.

The land is estimated to be worth about P33.632 billion, based on the zonal valuation as of May 9.

“As a government entity that exists to ensure the integrity of the funds of its members, GSIS is determined to sell it through public bidding upon the approval of the Board,” Mr. Aranas said in a statement on June 26.

Mr. Aranas was asked to comment but had not replied at deadline time.

Mr. Aranas was appointed to head the GSIS in November 2017. Prior to his appointment, he served as deputy commissioner of the Bureau of Internal Revenue. He also served as national treasurer of Partido Demokratiko Pilipino — Lakas ng Bayan, Mr. Duterte’s political party. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal

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