NGCP assistant vice president Cynthia Alabanza (File photo)
QUEZON CITY, Philippines 鈥� When did making money become so 鈥渄emonized?鈥�
National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP) assistant vice president Cynthia Alabanza aired her sentiment on Thursday after she found herself in the hot seat Wednesday when senators grilled her about the company鈥檚 alleged obscenely high dividend payments.
Alabanza though stressed it is not a 鈥渇at paycheck鈥� given to NGCP executives but an earning shared among its investors.
NGCP hit over execs鈥� fat pay amid project delays
鈥淵ou know that fat paycheck I thought was a little bit unfair because industry-wise, we鈥檙e just at the level,鈥� she said over ABS-CBN 黑料社 Channel鈥檚 鈥淗eadstart鈥� TV program.
鈥淪econd of all, I don鈥檛 know when making money became so demonized,鈥� she said.
鈥淎gain, when you talk about dividends, if you look at the prevailing law, you鈥檙e not supposed to retain dividends. You鈥檙e supposed to give it out. In fact, you will be penalized if you retain dividends beyond your paid-up capital.鈥�
鈥淏ut is it really a fat paycheck? It isn鈥檛. It鈥檚 earnings,鈥� Alabanza insisted.
At a Senate hearing on Wednesday, NGCP disclosed that billions of pesos earnings of the company were divided among its shareholders.
The NGCP official had explained during the hearing that their profits 鈥渁re taken from retained earnings which have accumulated over the years.鈥�
On the company鈥檚 billion-peso dividends, Alabanza said it is also essential to look at their capital expenditures.
鈥淚f you just take out a couple of zeros, you put in P300 and you earn, let鈥檚 say, a P180, this is not so bad. But you know the connotation of billions that makes it seem so unacceptable. But in proportion, this is not unusual,鈥� she claimed during the interview.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 because you know we operated the transmission system as best as [possible]. We make it efficient and we have run the business in a way that we鈥檝e made it profitable from that time that government had it prior to privatization,鈥� she explained.
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