Gaite makes it through first day as SEC commissioner

MANILA, Philippines - Former deputy executive secretary Manuel Gaite yesterday made it through his first day of work as commissioner of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and said that he is looking forward to a quick adjustment period.

Gaite, 54, admitted that while his appointment comes at an unfortunate time given the Legacy scandal, he welcomed the new challenges and opportunities his new assignment would bring.

“I know it’s not a very good time to come in because of the Legacy Group controversy, but there’s a job to be done. I welcome this change of environment,” said Gaite who has worked at Malacañang in various posts for 23 years.

Gaite, who replaced the disgraced Jesus Martinez, said he hopes to contribute to the formulation of policies that would strengthen the corporate regulator’s operations.

He intends to look into the systems and procedures at the SEC to determine what needs to be done to prevent the repeat of the Legacy Group fiasco, which has defrauded thousands of investors of billions of pesos.

He said he would also look into existing laws or rules that can be revisited to ensure that adequate safety nets are in place.

He added that there might be a need to review existing reportorial requirements for SEC-registered corporations.

In spite of criticisms hurled against his appointment, Gaite said he would just do his job, pointing out that he serves at the pleasure of the President.

Gaite had been dragged into the $329.48-million ZTE broadband deal mess after he admitted lending money to Senate star witness Rodolfo Noel Lozada Jr. when the latter was hiding in Hong Kong to evade inquiries into the controversy.

Lawmakers have slammed Gaite’s appointment as they questioned his integrity.

Sen. Mar Roxas, chairman of the Senate committee on trade and commerce leading the investigation into the Legacy Group scam, cited Section 4.2 of the Securities Regulation Code on the qualifications for SEC commissioners, stating that: “The commissioners must be… of good moral character, of unquestionable integrity, of known probity and patriotism, and with recognized competence.”

Gaite is married to a former nun and they have two kids.

Under the Estrada administration, he worked under Presidential Adviser for Flagship Projects Robert Aventajado while holding other posts in concurrent capacity.

A month after President Arroyo assumed power in January 2001, Gaite was appointed presidential assistant with the rank of undersecretary in the Office of the Presidential Adviser for Regional Development.

Group hits appointment

A militant group composed of state employees assailed the appointment of Manuel Gaite to the SEC, saying the government must retrench “disgraced” officials and instead promote lowly paid, rank-and-file workers.

The Confederation for Unity, Recognition and Advancement of Government Employees (Courage) also criticized Executive Order 366, stipulating the rationalization plan for government agencies.

“We are not amused with Arroyo’s standards for merit and promotion. She adamantly refuses to listen to the demand of the government employees to scrap EO 366, which will take away their jobs and restrict promotions that they supposedly deserve,” Courage national president Ferdinand Gaite said.

“On the other hand, she can easily promote unscrupulous officials,” he said in a press conference in Quezon City.

He said state employees are “enraged” with the President’s “practice of rewarding corrupt and dishonest officials with top positions in the bureaucracy while attacking the jobs of low-paying workers.”

The group’s president, who also expressed disgust for sharing the same surname with the new SEC appointee, said Manny Gaite was implicated in the national broadband network (NBN) controversy.

“There are others who are more qualified for the job, but why appoint someone involved in the ZTE-NBN scandal?” the Courage leader said.         – Zinnia dela Peña, Reinir Padua