CoA said the media services were deemed as ‘unnecesssary expenditure.’

The Commission on Audit (CoA) called on the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) not to depend too much on “ex-deals” or an exchange deal arrangement in the airing of its infomercials on the state-run broadcast network.

The CoA urged the GSIS management to limit the airing of infomercials through ex-deals as state auditors found out that the P50.155-million agreement with state-run network People’s Television Nework (PTV) “did not add value to GSIS members, non-responsive to the exigencies of the GSIS mandate and can be dispensed with without loss or damage to the System, hence, considered unnecessary.”

In its 2017 audit report, the CoA said GSIS entered into several memoranda of agreement (MoA) with PTV to cover the network’s unremitted premium and loan payments deducted from the salaries of the network’s employees.

The state auditors added that in the review of the MoA dated 10 December 2015, it revealed that PTV had an outstanding balance of P47 million with GSIS, which the CoA said will be settled through the airing of five- and 30-second infomercials, production costs and coverage of GSIS special events.

The state-run network had already exhausted all its balance with GSIS when it rendered media services worth P30.78 million and P19.37 million in 2016 and 2017, respectively, according to the CoA report.

The government’s auditing agency also said that the media services were deemed an “unnecessary expenditure” under CoA Circular 2012-003 dated Oct. 29, 2012 since the exchange deal arrangement does not support the objectives and mission of the GSIS.

“The additional exposures covered by the latest MoA were unnecessary since the GSIS required no introduction since it has been in existence years ago and membership to the GSIS is compulsory for all government employees receiving compensation,” the report said.

“We further noted that the said informercials and television ad placements are merely stating that the program is sponsored by GSIS, hence, it did not add value to GSIS members,” it added.

The CoA said the show “GSIS Members’ Hour” is more than enough to disseminate information about GSIS updates.

The commission, however, said PTV is an unpopular choice given its poor signal reception for viewers in the provinces and for non-cable subscribers in urban areas.

The CoA recommended for GSIS to limit infomercials that only add value to GSIS members and, if warranted, enter agreements with television networks that have better signal reception.

The CoA also urged the management to require PTV to pay the premiums and loan amortizations of its employees equivalent to the P50.155-million arrangement.

The PTV management agreed to adhere to the recommendations of the audit report, according to CoA.