SSS collects over P0.6-M in contribution and loan payments thru Globe GCash

The Social Security System (SSS) has collected nearly P650,000 in contributions and loan payments of self-employed and voluntary members through the Globe GCash facility by the end of the first quarter this year. The SSS mobile payment scheme was officially rolled out in December 2015.

SSS Officer-in-Charge of the Service Delivery Department Renato N. Malto said that out of the P648,420 total GCash collections as of end-March 2016, nearly 80 percent were payments for contributions which amounted to P511,575 while the remaining P136,845 were for members’ loan amortizations.

“Enabling SSS payments through Globe GCash aims to capitalize on the widespread use of mobile phones which have penetrated even the most distant areas of the country. Instead of spending much time, money and effort to go to the nearest SSS branch or to our accredited partners, members can just use their mobile phones to pay their contributions and loans,” Malto said.

Members must be prepaid or postpaid Globe or Touch Mobile subscribers to use the GCash facility. To register, members can dial *143#, select “GCash” and key in the desired four-digit Personal Identification Number (PIN) along with their first name, last name and address.

Another way to register is by downloading the GCash mobile application, click “New to GCash? Register” and enter the desired four-digit PIN, first name, last name and address. Meanwhile, to pay, members can dial *143#, select “9” for GCash then select “5” for “Pay Bills.” They may also dial *137#, select “2” for “Nat’l Gov’t Agency” and proceed with the payment process.

SSS payments sent thru GCash have no transaction fee. GCash also offers members a safe means for paying their contributions and amortizations for salary and real estate loans, since users are required to provide their (PIN) during every transaction for added security.

“Another advantage of using GCash is that the contribution and loan payments would be immediately posted in the SSS database the following day. Members would also be informed through text message if their payment has been duly received by the GCash system,” Malto said.

Contribution payment deadlines of self-employed and voluntary members depend on the last digit of their Social Security (SS) number. The deadline is the 10th day after the applicable month or quarter if the last digit is 1 or 2, the 15th day if 3 or 4, the 20th day if 5 or 6, the 25th day if 7 or 8, and on the last day of the month if 9 or 10.

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) can pay their January to September contributions anytime within the same year and their October to December premiums on or before January 31 of the following year. Member loans, on the other hand, must be paid monthly, with the deadline also based on the last digit of the SS number.

Malto urged self-employed and voluntary members, including those from the informal sector, to consider GCash as their SSS payment channel. Farmers, fisherfolk and OFWs are already among those who have started using GCash for their SSS contribution and loan payments.

“We also invite members who are active GCash users to help us spread the good news about this innovative facility so that more workers would likewise benefit from the ease and convenience that GCash offers. Plans are underway to add more SSS services to the GCash system,” he said.

Members can direct their queries to the GCash Customer Service Support Hotline at 739-2882, SSS Call Center at 920-6446 to 55, and SSS OFW Contact Services Unit at +632 364-7796 and +632 364-7798. Members who are Globe subscribers can also call 2882 using their mobile phones to contact the GCash Customer Service Support Hotline.

Info Program for OFWs in Malita

Davao Occidental – In an effort to raise awareness on the various programs and services of OWWA, the Regional Welfare Office XI headed by Regional Director Eduardo E. Bellido, visited the municipality of Malita last April 5, 2016 to promote its programs and services to OFWs and their families.

In an interview aired over 103.9 FM (Radyo Kamagi) “Maayong Buntag Malitaños”, a radio program in Malita which promotes programs and services of its partner government agencies, Dir. Bellido explained the five (5) pillar programs of OWWA which are; social benefits, education & training assistance, workers welfare assistance program, social services & family welfare services, and reintegration program.

The nature and functions of OWWA were likewise discussed by Dir. Bellido. He also added that, per database, the municipality of Malita has around 544 OFWs who are members of OWWA. Of these number, 515 are landbased while 29 are seabased.

On the other hand, Mr. Carmelo T. Elaya, Welfare Case Officer, answered queries about the welfare cases handled by the office. He reported that, the Regional Welfare Office XI has provided various assistance to the OFW residents of Malita. The OFW families with welfare concerns were assisted by Family Welfare Officer, Herman C. Sab thru the PESO office of the said municipality.

Malita is a first class municipality that serves as the capital of the newly established province of Davao Occidental. Giving the right information and updates on the agency’s programs and services, especially to far-flung municipalities can make the OFWs and their families aware of the interventions and benefits.

Ms. Alona Estrella, also the Municipal’s Public Information Officer and anchorwoman of “Maayong Buntag Malitaños”, expressed her gratitude to OWWA for making the Malitaños well-informed about its programs and services. (END)

ABAD: Infra spending will boost Q1 GDP

DPWH Obligates 44% of P479-B allotment before election ban

Higher government spending on infrastructure will boost GDP growth in the first quarter, according to Budget Secretary Florencio B. Abad.

“We should have good first quarter growth bolstered by the high obligation rate of the DPWH and by election spending,” Abad said.

The Department of Budget and Management (DBM) reported today that the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) has obligated 44 percent or P211-billion of its P479-billion allotment, an increase of 12 percent from the 32-percent obligation rate over the same period last year.

The DPWH has also utilized 98 percent of its cash allocation in the first quarter of 2016, resulting in disbursements of P55 billion.

“We laud DPWH’s successful efforts to ensure the continuity of their projects before the election ban took effect. These promising figures for obligations and NCA utilization rates suggest that public construction will continue to drive growth upwards in the first quarter of 2016 as it did last year,” the Secretary added.

“I also want to emphasize that the P205 billion—or 65 percent of the total allotment—was obligated for regional projects before the start of the election ban. This means that DPWH will continue to improve local infrastructure uninterrupted throughout the year,” the Secretary added.

National Government allotment releases

In total, 91.8 percent or P1.49 trillion of the P1.62-trillion total budget for agencies were released in the first quarter of the year, bringing total releases to 82.3 percent of the P3.002-trillion National Budget for 2016. This represents a 0.7-percent increase over allotment releases over the same period last year.

“In the coming months, the 82.3-percent figure for total allotment releases over program should increase, as DBM releases NDRRMF funds for calamities or issue special shares to LGUs from national taxes, for example,” the Secretary said.

PIDS study calls for comprehensive action for mitigating risks, building resilience

Baguio City, the capital of Benguet Province, was flagged a few years back by a World Wide Fund for Nature study as the most vulnerable Philippine city to climate change and other socioeconomic threats.

Because of its dense population, topography, and largely ill-planned urbanization, Baguio’s ability to adapt and respond to such risks was judged inadequate. As part of a conscious effort to turn things around, the city’s academic community participated in a forum highlighting the importance of building a multiple resilience system.

The policy research forum on Human Capital: Health, Education, and Building Resilience was held at the University of the Philippines, Baguio, co-hosted by the Cordillera Studies Center (CSC) and state think thank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).

Dr. Gilberto Llanto, PIDS president, presented his paper on Risks, Shocks, and Building Resilience: Philippines, profiling the risk landscape faced by the country, the nature of interconnectedness of risks, and the importance of creating a policy framework for building resilience at every level of society.

According to Llanto, risks do not occur in isolation but rather in a wide network. As an example, Llanto cited the link between food and energy crises. The trade-off of choosing to allocate resources to address the need for renewable energy was the fatal spike in food prices.

Closer to home, Llanto explained how the economic slowdown in China directly affects the growth of commodity-exporting countries like the Philippines. China is one of the Philippines’ largest exporting partners.

Similarly, while the recent falling oil prices was met with elation from the Philippines’ transport sector, it greatly affected the economic health of oil-exporting countries. In turn, the oil-exporting countries, which also happened to host large contingents of Overseas Filipino Workers, were forced to send back their foreign workers to their remittance-dependent homes.

Apart from being interconnected, risks are, by nature, also constantly evolving. Therefore, managing and responding to them requires multiple resilient systems.

“The Philippines is particularly challenged to build economic resilience because of its high risk exposure and vulnerability, explained somewhat by its geographical location,” said Llanto. “It is difficult to manage risks. But it is possible.”

A huge stumbling block in the process of risk management is the dearth of policy-oriented research and the absence of a resilience system. Although it has the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) in place, the country has yet to paint a comprehensive picture of the country’s risk landscape, making it difficult to build the appropriate response framework.

“You need good policy interventions, and good policies rely on good research,” Llanto said.

He warned, “Exposure to bad policies will exacerbate one’s vulnerability.”

Thus, dealing with risks is not solely the job of policymakers or the NDRRMC. Communities have to work together to figure out how to handle and manage the risks and shocks faced by their community at the ground level.

In sum, the country has to work together at every level to make resilience thinking a habit. A multiple resilience system must be built and founded on sound research and analysis, capable of identifying the wide array of vulnerabilities and adapting to the ever-evolving nature of risks. (PIDS)

Power Supply Back to Normal

The Department of Energy (DOE) earnestly calls on the cooperation of the public to undertake energy efficiency and conservation initiatives despite normalization of power supply following the prolonged forced outages of some plants coinciding with other plants’ maintenance shutdown.

Energy Secretary Zenaida Y. Monsada said “In facing this critical phase concerning our power supply, we are counting on the collective effort of everybody to practice energy efficiency and/or by adjusting the usage period of any electric appliances away from the peak hours (i.e., 10:00 a.m.-3:00 p.m.), such as, ironing of clothes, unnecessary use of computers, and even laundering of clothes using washing machine and drier, as any contribution really does matter.”

She added that energy consumers are urged to set the thermostat of air-conditioning units installed in their offices and households at 25˚Celsius.

This appeal came as peak demand has reached 9,255 MW breaching the highest recorded peak demand for the third time for this month alone, which can attributed to the hottest El Niño to date.

Meanwhile, the DOE received a latest report from the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP), the system operator, that the power supply status is already back to “normal” as Sual Unit 2 accounting for about 647 MW  was already back online. Additionally, the Tiwi Geothermal Plant Unit 6 with a dependable capacity of 43 MW is also back in operation.

Moreover, the government-owned Malaya power plant is already running and providing 330 MW of capacities augmenting the power supply in Luzon. Moreover, the DOE, in coordination with MERALCO, has also prepared the 826 MW enrolled capacities under the Interruptible Load Program, a program in which big load customers may opt to choose to run their generating facilities for own use, to help augment the supply.

Furthermore, the DOE continues to monitor the developments of the 300 megawatts (MW) Calaca Unit 2 and the 119 MW TMO Units 5 and 6 that were on forced outage, while also ensuring that plants that are on planned maintenance shutdown are on schedule to come on stream before the critical election period. (DOE)