Day: June 13, 2023

To help realize each overseas Filipino worker’s (OFW) dream of having their own home, the Department of Migrant Workers (DMW) on Tuesday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development (DHSUD) and the Pag-IBIG Fund. During the signing ceremony held at the DMW office in Mandaluyong, Secretary Susan Ople said this will be under the Pambansang Pabahay para sa Pilipino (4PH) flagship housing program of President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. and the department’s full-cycle national reintegration program for OFWs. “To own a home in an affordable way, this is what this agreement offers to every OFW,” Ople said. “Mahalaga na may nakalaan na mga pabahay units sa ating OFWs dahil ito ay pangarap nila at bilang pagkilala na din sa kanilang napakalaking ambag sa ating bansa (It is important that there are housing units that will be available for our OFWs because this is their dream, and this is also in recognition for their important contribution to the country),’ she added. DHSUD Secretary Rizalino Acuzar, in his speech, said the OFWs have contributed much to the economy and have been the lifeline of private housing developers in the country, narrating his experience coming from a private real estate company. He also assured that the government’s housing projects are sustainable, affordable as compared to buying them from private companies, and accessible, as these are in-city projects, without sacrificing the quality of the units. Acuzar said that housing projects are condominium units in the city measuring 25 to 27 square meters each and with amenities like the other private condominium projects. As DHSUD is just starting with the government housing program, Acuzar said initial projects may be realized after two years. ‘Within two years, magtatayuan yan. Makikita natin after two years, mag aaward na kami ng pabahay, yan yung nakikita nating program (they will be built. We will see these in two years, we will start awarding housing units, that is the projection of the program),’ Acuzar said. He added that he also asked the Central Bank as well as the Department of Finance to relax the documentation requirements to assure that even regular employees may avail of it. ‘Humingi ako sa kanila ng isang agreement na kung pwede i-relax ang documentation at ang pinakamaganda dito walang down payment (I asked them for an agreement to make them relax the documentation, and what is good here is that we do not ask for down payment),’ he added. Meanwhile, Ople assured that even former OFWs may avail of the program as long as they can prove that they formerly worked outside the country, and as long as they are active Pag-IBIG members. Pag-IBIG Fund Chief Executive Officer Marilene Acosta said that the partnership agreement allows the Pag-IBIG Fund to conduct education and information campaigns among OFWs for membership into the fund and to encourage availment of the 4PH program for OFWs. Pag-IBIG shall also conduct projects to promote financial literacy among OFWs that shall help build their appreciation for savings and capacity to manage investments. Acosta said that currently, Pag-IBIG Fund has 1.6 million active OFW members.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Philippines and Chile are working to craft an agreement that would foster scientific and technical exchanges on aquaculture and fisheries, the Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said Tuesday. The agency said the memorandum of understanding (MOU) is slated for signing this year between the Department of Agriculture (DA) and Chile’s Subsecretaría de Pesca y Acuicultura de la República de Chile (SUBPESCA) and Servicio Nacional de Pesca y Acuicultura (SERNAPESCA). SUBPESCA is Chile’s Sub-Secretariat of Fishing and Aquaculture while SERNAPESCA is the National Fisheries and Aquaculture Service under the Ministry of Economy, Development, and Tourism. ‘The MOU on Cooperation in Aquaculture and Fisheries and concrete projects under this key agreement will also be part of the agenda items during the upcoming 6th Philippines-Chile Bilateral Consultation Mechanism (BCM) in Manila in the second half of 2023,’ it said. The announcement comes following a string of meetings between the Philippines Embassy in Chile, SUBRESCA, SERNAPESCA, and Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada de Chile (SHOA) on June 1. Disaster risk reduction cooperation Aside from aquaculture, the two governments also discussed ways to strengthen cooperation on disaster risk reduction and management. In her meeting with SHOA Director Rear Admiral Arturo Oxley Lizana, Philippine Ambassador Celeste Vinzon-Balatbat sought to increase exchanges and facilitate the sharing of best practices between SHOA, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, and the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology. The embassy also eyed possible engagements between Chile and the Philippine Navy under the ambit of the 2015 Philippine-Chile MOU on Disaster Risk Reduction and Management (DRRM). The DRRM cooperation is envisioned to include, but will not be limited to sharing of early warning information on tsunamis and/or quakes; effective community action on DRRM; and sound practices and policies on disaster preparedness, early detection, and mitigation. SHOA’s tsunami detection, protocols/methodologies, and response capacities are among the most advanced in the Americas, with systems built using Chilean expertise and technology. The Philippine-Chile MOU on DRRM and the formulation of specific areas of cooperation between SHOA and Philippine authorities will also be discussed and advanced in the upcoming BCM.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Some 78 applicants for local employment and one for an overseas job have been hired on the spot (HOTS) while 210 job seekers were to process their requirements after the successful holding of the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Kalayaan Job Fair held at SM City Bacolod here Monday. In a statement on Tuesday, DOLE-Western Regional Director Sixto Rodriguez Jr. congratulated those hired on the spot with complete requirements and advised the others to immediately process their needed papers. ‘I express my appreciation to the valuable contributions of the employers and the different partner-agencies that made the success of the 2023 Kalayaan Job Fair possible,’ he added. At least 51 local employers and companies and four licensed agencies for overseas employment participated in the event. Rodriguez said the DOLE holds jobs fair to provide a common venue for companies to reach out to job seekers and also connect the applicants with top employers. He added that during an employment fair, applicants should take advantage of the opportunity to explore and secure a job that suits one’s skills, qualifications and aspirations. During the job fair here, other government agencies also provided on-site services to assist applicants with their pre-employment requirements. Among these were the National Bureau of Investigation, Philippine Postal Corp., Department of Foreign Affairs, Technical Education and Skills Development Authority, Social Security System, Pag-IBIG Fund, Bureau of Internal Revenue, Philippine Health Insurance Corp., Department of Trade and Industry and the Philippine Statistics Authority. The city’s Public Employment Services Office assisted the DOLE by providing a list of local employers and companies and conducting information dissemination.

Source: Philippines News Agency

Police arrested a suspect involved in selling fake certificates from Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) and driver’s licenses from the Land Transportation Office (LTO), an official said Tuesday. An entrapment operation was launched against the suspect Monday afternoon after a victim filed a complaint upon learning he paid for a fake National Certificate II (NC-2). Maj. John Vincent Bravo, city police station 2 commander, said the suspect, identified only as certain ‘Datu Simeon,’ is a resident of Barangay Rosary Heights 10 in this city. Bravo said ‘Datu Simeon’ has been selling of fake NC-2 certificates and driver’s licenses. ‘He already sold more than 100 fake certificates. The man produces NC-2 certificates for a fee and the buyer no longer attends TESDA training anymore,’ the police official said. A fake NC-2 certificate costs PHP3,500 each, initial police investigation showed. ‘This is an online transaction with the victims paying also online. In some instances, it was a face-to-face transaction,’ Bravo said. Both the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao – Ministry of Basic, Higher, and Technical Education and TESDA BARMM denied any affiliation with the suspect.

Source: Philippines News Agency

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) leadership on Tuesday reiterated its commitment to run after uncollected loans from 21 private companies amounting to P2.1 billion as per Commission on Audit (COA) report. GSIS President and General Manager Wick Veloso said they are in continuous talks with the companies while other cases are in various courts. Veloso also clarified that GSIS already secured the collaterals of these loans. “Itong 21 na pribadong kompanya, yung iba po rito, na-possess na namin yung mga collateral. Nasa aming paghahawak na. Yung iba naman po ay nasa korte. Ngunit lahat pong yan ay mga secured ng real estate at nasa GSIS po lahat (These 21 companies, we now have in possession their collaterals. Others are in the courts. But all of these real estate were already secured by the GSIS),” he said during a radio interview. In its recent report, COA urged the GSIS to collect all the unpaid loans of its delinquent borrowers which includes a PHP600 million in 1997 as the biggest unpaid loan. Veloso admitted that in 2016 the GSIS uncollected loans amounted to PHP74 billion. But, he reported that for the first four months of 2023, it went down to PHP35.6 billion. “Sinisigurado po namin na isa-isa po naming sinusuri at sinusuyod po namin lahat ng may pagkakautang po sa amin. Yun pong nakakausap namin binibigyan po namin ng (We assure that we scrutinize each borrower. Those we have reached out were given the chance to avail our) reconciliation and condonation program,” Veloso said. “Nagdagdag din po kami ng mga collection agents across the country para mas mapabilis po ang ang pagkolekta (We also hired more collection agents across the country to hasten the collection process),” he added. This, the GSIS chief noted, was also mentioned in the COA report commending the state pension fund for its “continuous actions in enhancing its system to achieve a more effective collection facility.’

Source: Philippines News Agency