Economic managers of President Benigno S. Aquino III agreed to suspend for two months the bonuses and compensations of officials of the Government Owned and Controlled Corporations (GOCC’s) and Government Financial Institutions (GFI’s), according to Budget Secretary Florencio Abad on Friday.

Abad said that while they reassess the salaries and benefits of the GOCC officials, their bonuses and perks would be suspended for two months.

“The economic managers [Friday] agreed to endorse the resolution of the Senate calling on the suspension of bonuses and other perks for two months, with the exception of ‘reasonable payments,’” Abad told Palace reporters during a media conference at the Department of Budget and Management (DBM).

The DBM chief also said that within two months, the government would rationalize the system of compensation and benefits in GOCCs and GFIs.

Abad also said that he had no concrete definition for the ‘reasonable payments’ for the GOCC and GFI officials but he clarified that a Cabinet secretary was receiving a P22,000 monthly.

Abad also said, the DBM and the Finance Department had already finished the draft of an Executive Order for the rationalization of the top executive’s salaries and allowances.

Earlier, President Aquino said in a media conference that he might sign the EO next week that would impose a cap on the salaries and allowances of GOCC executives.

“The Budget Department will have to do an inventory of all the variants of pay that GOCC officials are getting,” President Aquino earlier said after unveiling the marker of the latest facility of Convergy’s in SM San Lazaro Manila Friday.

He also said there was already an existing Administrative Order no. 103 in 2001 that imposes cap on the salaries and allowances of the GOCCs and GFIs but was not implemented.

The President said he expects resistance once the EO is signed, imposing cap for salaries and allowances of the GOCC officials.

The salaries and benefits of GOCC and GFI officials were exempted from government’s Salary Standardization Law during the mid-1990s to entice executives from the private sector to join the government.

The GOCC and GFI boards of directors have the power to pass resolutions giving themselves additional benefits.