Social Security

TOKYO — The Philippines and Japan have agreed to convene immediately a joint working group that will draw up a bilateral Social Security Agreement (SSA) to facilitate convenient pension premium and benefit payments by and for both expatriate employers and employees, and further promote closer relations between the two countries.

GENEVA – Usually at odds due to competing interests, Philippine labor and employers are at least in agreement that social protection should be provided and strengthened if recovery from the global economic crisis is to be fast-tracked.

GENEVA—In an unprecedented move, world leaders and representatives from the employers’ and workers’ organizations are meeting here for a three-day summit aimed at finding a common ground to combat the global economic crunch and its effect on employment.

In developed economies, the most common form of dole-out is unemployment insurance, given to people who have lost their jobs and can’t find new work at once. They are usually time-bound, to discourage undue dependency and spur recipients to exert efforts to quickly find new employment. Governments often complement the dole with placement assistance to…

MANILA, Philippines – The business community expressed its strong objection yesterday to the planned establishment of a Philippine Workers’ Compensation Authority (PWCA) to replace the existing Social Security System and Government Service Insurance System.

MANILA, Philippines—Just in time for the opening of classes next week, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has announced that the distribution of grants to beneficiaries in provinces included in the so-called expansion areas of the government’s conditional cash transfer program will start in June.

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CEBU, Philippines – PhilHealth recently adjusted its basic benefits by 35 percent to allow members bigger coverage.

MANILA, Philippines – The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has put on hold its plan to invest the $400 million remaining under its $1-billion Global Investment Program (GIP) in the wake of the global financial turmoil.

The Unified Multi-Purpose ID System (UMID) is a step closer to reality as the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), Social Security System (SSS), Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (Philhealth), the Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF), and other proponents of the project formed a technical group to draw up guidelines for the program.

Huling chance na para mag update ng inyong delinquent housing accounts Sa GSIS Housing Loan Restructuring and Condonation Program, pwede na ninyong i-restructure and inyong delinquent housing loan accounts at a fixed interest rate of only 8% per annum up to a maximum term of 30 years.*

The uninterrupted receipt of the monthly pension of old-age and survivorship pensioners of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) rests on their dutiful compliance with the annual renewal of active status (ARAS) requirement of the pension fund.

The Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) warned yesterday that it will not issue a certificate of franchise to public transport operators who are not registered with the Social Security System (SSS).

The chief executive of the state-owned health insurance company urged hospitals and doctors to keep their rates and fees down so that patients can enjoy the full impact of the 35-percent increase in benefits.

MANILA, Philippines – The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the state-owned pension fund for government employees, reported yesterday that its income from loans and investments went up by 30.39 percent to P46.42 billion in 2008 from P35.6 billion recorded in 2007, GSIS data showed.

State-run Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) said its investment income rose last year despite the global turmoil, citing its prudent investments strategy.

STATE-RUN Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) said it approved a new loan program for its out-of-work members to mitigate the impact of the global financial crisis.

At least 100,000 families can save their homes from foreclosure under an amnesty program that will take effect on May 4, the National Housing Authority said yesterday.

Delinquent borrowers of the old housing loan program of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) get a reprieve as the pension fund offers them a chance to save their homes from foreclosures or cancellation of their Deed of Conditional Sale under a new condonation program.

The 35-percent increase in state-managed healthcare benefits will cost the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. about P7 billion, said PhilHealth president and chief executive Dr. Rey Aquino.

Five million of the Philippines’ poorest families will receive cash or health-insurance benefits from the government this year, President Gloria Arroyo’s spokesman said on Friday.

With complaints from members MANILA, Philippines–The House of Representatives is set to investigate complaints about difficulties in transacting with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), according to militant lawmakers.

The most stubborn kind of poverty is that passed down from generation to generation. The poorest Filipino households are those whose heads have the barest formal education—or none at all. And they transmit their poverty, as a kind of negative inheritance, to their children and grandchildren.

STATE-RUN Social Security System (SSS) said it sued delinquent employers for violations of the Social Security Law. In a statement, Romulo Neri, SSS president, said the pension fund brought to court 1,623 delinquent employers. Penalties include fines of up to P20,000 and a maximum imprisonment of 12 years.

MANILA, Philippines—President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo has announced an incentive for workers who lost their jobs in the electronics industry.

MANILA, Philippines – Nueva Ecija Rep. Edno Joson yesterday filed a bill seeking to provide compensation of up to six months to workers rendered jobless by the financial crisis or other causes.

STO. TOMAS, Pangasinan, Philippines – President Arroyo has ordered economic managers to study the proposal of Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Ralph Recto for the government to set up a fund to extend temporary unemployment insurance to workers who lose their jobs, with money to be provided by the Social Security System (SSS) and the national government.

MANILA, Philippines – A government official announced that Malacañang is considering the possibility of granting cash benefits to citizens who lost their jobs due to the current economic crisis, reports said today.

THE National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said it would recommend a P6-billion unemployment insurance program for Filipinos who lost their jobs due to the global financial crisis.

MANILA, Philippines – Resigned Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG) president and chief operating officer Romero Quimbo said his resignation was not prompted by any political pressure but was a purely professional decision to pursue his political plans in Marikina in the 2010 election.