On a personal and
professional basis, Gem, Chairman Carague, is of course one of the most
preferred persons for the positions which he has held in government which is
undersecretary and then secretary of the Department of Budget and Management and
now the Chairman of COA.
He was in fact, a partner of the SGV and he of course got the culture of the
private sector. The "can do" type of culture versus the bureaucratic culture of
the government and that became a big advantage for him. He was Undersecretary
and then Secretary of the DBM. I was the President of the GSIS at the time. We
at the GSIS were also coping with very important changes in how GSIS, for
instance, should collect its premiums from government offices and so forth. And
so I was discussing this with him and he later had his own ideas on how certain
funds of the GSIS should be handled. More particularly, the, if I remember
right, the insurance of government buildings which are all insured with the GSIS.
We had discussions on how matters are from these discussions. I knew that Gem
Carague was not a superficial person. He is a person who went into the heart of
matters.
At the same time, he was also very personable. He wasn’t a guy to put on
airs. It was easy to talk to him and you felt that despite the high position he
held, you felt as if you were talking to just another regular guy about
something of common interest to you both.
When he was in the private sector, I know that he was very involved in IT
(information technology) in those days and in fact he has given me some advice
on IT matters when he was out of the government. So when the President appointed
him Chairman of the COA, at that point I was Speaker of the House of
Representatives, I was very enthusiastic for his appointment knowing his
abilities and dedication. He is very single minded in his dedication. He proved
to be exactly what I thought he should be as Chairman of the COA.
For one thing, he had made tremendous changes in the way the COA conducted
its business and even in the NGAS, a system that he has initiated. I recall that
he even came here at Quezon City at my invitation two or three times to explain
why he wanted to install NGAS, the philosophy behind it and the advantages of
the system. And he has written books or compilations, of new systems in the
auditing of government offices. Magaganda yan. In other words, he was an
innovator, a thinker and I thought a person with terrific personality,
well-loved because walang hangin.
And also the system finally paved the way by which the local government units
in the country can be evaluated against each other and then publishing the
results in major dailies. I think it was terrific. Formerly, it was impossible
to compare one government office with another.
I really appreciated this new system because for a guy who was
underperforming, he could see how he could improve and for people who were doing
good to see that they were being appreciated by the so called "policemen" of the
bureaucracy.
I find it simply amazing that Gem is now exiting as Chairman of COA. I know
that he has also been a member of the auditing community of the United Nations,
a recognition of his worth. He is still young, still a vigorous person. I don’t
know how he keeps at it. But I hope that he will not simply fade away now that
he has retired. Anyway, he is used to being his own boss. He is also an
entrepreneur especially in the area of IT.
Personally, if he ever becomes a talent that you could consult from time to
time, certainly I think there are many people like myself, who are in various
executive positions both in the public and private sector, who would be very
happy to discuss things with him and take advantage of his great experience and
knowledge in this field. Kaya Gem, let me just say that you have been a
credit to the administrations that you have served, to the civil service in our
country, and of course, to the system of auditing and accountability in
government. You have made a real contribution and I think the Filipino people
ought to know that you have been such a great public servant.
