Social Security

MANILA, Philippines – The House committee on housing will look into the reported losses incurred by the Home Guaranty Corp. (HGC), one of several housing agencies under new housing czar Vice President Jejomar Binay.

AMID soldiers’ clamor for  payment of their monthly pension, the National Defense department has ordered the Armed Forces to study the feasibility of creating a new retirement and benefit System for the military and police personnel.

The secretary of the Department of Social Welfare and Devlopment has been getting a lot of flak lately about the more-than-doubling of the DSWD 2011 budget to finance the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer program, known locally as the 4Ps or the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. The objections which arise from various sectors — religious, activists,…

Or three reasons to do it differently The Asian Development Bank is loaning the Philippine government $400,000 million to implement it’s conditional cash transfer program, known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps). The conditional health and education cash grants will be provided to poor households by the DSWD, to mothers and/orpregnant women of eligible…

SEN. Ralph Recto the other day raised a question I have been harping on for quite some time: Isn’t it better for the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to commit more investment funds here at home, primarily in highly profitable and badly needed infrastructure projects, instead of stashing more money overseas? Could the GSIS not…

The Department of Finance may propose the inclusion of senior citizens as beneficiaries of the government’s Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, instead of exempting them from the payment of value-added tax (VAT). Finance Assistant Secretary Teresa Habitan said that the Finance department will make a proposed amendment to lawmakers on Republic Act (RA) 9994, or…

MANILA, Philippines—The two-fold hike in the budget of the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has raised eyebrows even among allies of President Benigno Aquino III in the Senate.

MANILA, Philippines—A crisis involving the pension fund of military and police personnel is looming, with the government facing the prospect of forking out more money for the retirement benefits of soldiers and policemen than for the salaries of their comrades in active service.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has completed its migration to the HP-Oracle database system from its former system supplied by an international computer giant that crashed frequently.

Recto says $400M can be invested in RP The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) should not invest an additional $400 million overseas after its initial investment of $600 million yielded a “mediocre” return on investment (ROI) of only 7 percent pegged in pesos and not in dollars, Sen. Ralph Recto said Sunday. He said that…

MANILA, Philippines – The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) announced yesterday that it would continue to extend cash assistance to the poorest of the poor as part of the poverty reduction program of President Aquino.

Manila, Philippines — The Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund) has assured overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) that their contributions to the Fund are “safe and secure” despite job transfers abroad as it also encouraged inactive members to reactivate their membership.

THE Social Security System has collected a total of P916.45 million from 17,920 employers in six months ending on August 2 under a rare amnesty program that condoned penalties on overdue premiums.

IN HIS MESSAGE that accompanies the proposed government budget for next year, President Benigno C. Aquino III notes that the allocation for health is 13.6% higher than 2010’s P29.3 billion (According to the 2010 General Appropriations Act though, only P28.7 billion was allocated to the Health department).

THE Aquino administration plans to tap state-run pension funds and financial institutions to raise money for its public-private partnership (PPP) initiative. During a Senate Committee on Finance hearing on Monday, Department of Finance (DOF) Secretary Cesar Purisima said they would turn to the Social Security System, Government Service Insurance System and other government financial institutions…

MANILA, Philippines – The Social Security System (SSS) collected a total of P916.45 million from its amnesty program that condoned penalties of overdue premiums, its top official said yesterday.

THE Malacañang-proposed budget for 2011 will amend the law granting P500 in monthly pension to every indigent senior citizen and disenfranchise about 850,000 of them, Sen. Ralph Recto said Friday.

MANILA, Philippines—The extremely poor households that benefited from the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program spent their money wisely on food and on their children’s basic needs, according to Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman.

MANILA, Philippines – The government’s housing czar, Vice President Jejomar Binay, has ordered an inquiry into the alleged fraudulent use of Pag-Ibig Fund housing loan proceeds by real estate developer Globe Asiatique.

MANILA, Philippines—The poorest of poor Filipinos will enjoy an additional P8 billion in cash subsidies from the government, but this will only be made possible at the expense of the country’s rice farmers whose livelihood depends on selling what they produce to the National Food Authority.

MANILA, Philippines – The Asian Development Bank (ADB) approved yesterday a $400-million loan for the Philippines to support the expansion of its conditional cash transfer program known as the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps.

MANILA, Philippines- The Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program is another one of the Aquino government’s band-aid solution to widespread poverty and hunger in the country. It is a symptom of the many problems of the Filipino workers and people, among which are the high cost of education and health services. It also shows that the real…

MANILA, Philippines –  Indigent senior citizens aged 80 and above will receive a monthly pension of P500 starting next year as part of the Expanded Senior Citizens Act, Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Soliman said yesterday.

SPECIAL REPORT Pilot housing project (First of two parts) CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—In the files of the Home Development Mutual Fund (Pag-IBIG Fund), Joel is listed as a borrower of a P635,000 loan for a 36-square meter, two-story townhouse in Xevera Mabalacat, a housing project some 50 kilometers north of where he lives in Pampanga.

MANILA, Philippines – Senators were shocked over revelations that the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has P3.5 billion in investments in 12 losing companies even as it earned P96 billion last year and handed out P6 million in salaries and perks to each member of its board.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Department of Education (DepEd) have agreed to resolve all issues of public school teachers through a Memorandum of Understanding. The agreement was reached during the first wave of dialog between the two agencies.

While state workers constantly complain about the restrictive rules of the Government Service Insurance System in the grant of benefits, top executives of the pension fund are enriching themselves through fat compensation.

Each of the Government Service Insurance System’s (GSIS) board members received about P6 million in salaries and perks in 2009, an official of the state pension fund told a Senate inquiry Thursday.

State-run Social Security System (SSS) said it would file cases against delinquent employers who failed to participate in the pension fund’s recently concluded condonation program. Emilio de Quiros, the newly appointed SSS president, said after his leadership would strengthen the pension fund’s viability before looking into more long-term goals like improving social security.

Former Social Security System (SSS) president Romulo Neri, along with some top executives of the agency allegedly appropriated for themselves bonuses and other incentives totaling more than P127 million over three years based on data provided the Senate in relation to its current probe into excessive compensations given to officials of government-owned and -controlled corporations…