Tambuling Batangas Publication July 11-17, 2018 Issue | Page 5

OPINYON
Hulyo 11-17, 2018
Philippines now has social security
partnership with Germany, Japan
THE Philippines, with the
Social Security System (SSS)
taking the lead in its pursuit,
now has bilateral Social
Security Agreements (SSAs)
with Germany and Japan
effective June 01 and August
01 of this year, respectively,
ensuring the protection of
social security rights for more
than 230,000 Filipinos abroad.

SSS President and
Chief
Executive
Officer
Emmanuel F. Dooc said that
these bilateral SSAs, aimed
at reducing or eliminating
nationality- and territory-based
restrictions on social security,
will benefit an estimated
47,214 Filipinos in Germany
and 182,917 Filipinos in
Japan, who are working or
residing permanently in these
two countries.

SSAs promote the
welfare of all persons covered
under the social security
programs of either or both
countries
for
retirement,
disability
and
death
contingencies. Its guiding
principles are embodied in
the 1962 ILO Social Security
Convention No. 118 on the
Equality of Treatment and
the 1982 ILO Social Security
Convention No. 157 on
the Maintenance of Social
Security Rights. There are
four salient features of an
SSA namely: (1) equality
of treatment, (2) export of
benefits,
(3)
totalization
of insurance periods, and
(4) mutual administrative
assistance.

“With the bilateral
SSAs in place, Filipinos
are now entitled to social
security benefits under the
same conditions applicable
to nationals of Germany and
Japan and we are looking
forward to extend the same
protection to more Filipinos
working or residing abroad,”
said Dooc.
Covered persons and their
beneficiaries, through the
provision on export of
benefits of the SSA, can
receive their social security
benefits regardless of whether
they decide to reside in the
Philippines, in Germany, in
Japan, or even in another
Bayanihan in the midst of chaos
ByJoy Gabrido, Joanna D.
Sabado, Andrea R. Bancud and
Lyndon Plantilla
THE chaos caused by the fire that
broke out on May 23, 2018 in Sitio
Palanas, Brgy. Vasra in Quezon
City did not stop the people in the
community from demonstrating
the value of “Bayanihan” that
resulted to zero casualties.

Brgy. Vasra Treasurer
Reschelle Batobalanos, one of the
residents of sitio Palanan A whose
house was totally burned down,
expressed her gratitude for the
help extended by her neighbors
and relatives to her parents who
were both ill.

Her parents were left
home on the day of the incident
since she works in the barangay.
She said it was a relief that her
neighbors prioritized to assist
her parents in getting out of the
house while she was not around.
“Nagtulung-tulong iyong mga
tao, kagaya nung sa amin…
kagaya ng tatay ko na-stroke siya,
hindi naman siya kayang ilabas,
nagtulung-tulong iyong mga tao
na mailabas,” she recounted.

Aside
from
the
immediate community’s initiative
to help each other during the
actual emergency situation,
public and private agencies
and organizations poured out
various kinds of assistance for the
survivors.
Barangay Secretary Estelita
Rayala says they were thankful
that many extended their help,
“Manila Water nag-standby ng
water truck doon, pagkasunog na
pagkasunog nandodoon na.”
It may have been unfortunate and
saddening that more than 400
families have fallen victim to the
fire incident, yet she said they
were not left alone in the battle
as support from several sources
poured in abundantly.

“Napakaganda
ng
suportang naibigay sa kanila,
talagang tamang-tama, from
DSWD, sa mga City Officials,”
she said, also mentioning all the
other organizations that were
able to aid their basic needs from
food, clothing, sleeping stuff like
blanket and mosquito net up to
the construction materials which
could augment their needs for
reconstructing their homes.

Social Welfare Officer
1 Loribel Doris T. Buyucan said
financial assistance is set to be
given to the victims. The house
owners will receive PHP 2,000.00
while the renter and sharer will
receive PHP 1,000.00.

Among the affected
families were that of Mr. Artemio
Cabitangan, 48 years old, who
works at the Quezon City Hall.
Fortunately for Artemio, he will
receive PHP 30,000.00 cash
assistance as mandated by City
Ordinance 2679. This ordinance
authorizes the LGU to give
financial assistance to any official
or employee of the Quezon City
Government who are victims of
fire.

What
makes
this
incident tragic, however, is the
fact that it’s already the second
time the same sitio was engulfed
with fire.

“Mahirap masunugan,
dalawang beses na. Dalawang
beses na same person iyong mga
nasunugan. Sila pa rin iyong
nakikita mong kauumpisa pa lang
(bumangon ulit),” stated Rayala.

The Secretary said
power problem is to be blamed
for the fire due to some unruly
households that use illegal
country.
The
“totalization
of
insurance period” allows the
consolidation of contribution
periods made in both countries
for the benefit of a worker who
fails to meet the minimum
qualifying conditions for
pension entitlement in either
or both countries.

For
example,
under the Philippine Social
Security Law, a member must
have at least 120 monthly
contributions to qualify for a
retirement pension. Without
the SSA, a member with only
100 monthly contributions
will only receive a lump-
sum amount consisting of
total contributions paid plus
interest.

“Without
the
totalization provision of the
agreement, a member will
not be entitled to a retirement
pension if only 100 monthly
contributions
are
paid.
However, under the agreement,
he or she may qualify for a
retirement pension if at least 20
or more monthly contributions
or creditable periods are made
under the social security
scheme of Germany or Japan,” said Dooc.
Further, as designated liaison
agencies, the bilateral SSAs
will be implemented by the
SSS and the Government
Service Insurance System
(GSIS) for the Philippines, the
Deutsche Rentenversicherung
for Germany and Japan
Pension Service for Japan, to
facilitate mutual administrative
assistance.

“The
SSS,
in
collaboration
with
the
Department
of
Foreign
Affairs (DFA), Department
of Labor and Employment
(DOLE) and other social
security institutions, will
continue to pursue SSAs with
other countries to promote
the welfare of overseas
Filipinos and ensure social
security protection in times of
contingencies”, said Dooc.

In
total,
the
Philippines has 13 bilateral
SSAs with Austria, UK and
Northern Ireland, Spain,
France, Canada, Quebec,
Netherlands,
Switzerland,
Belgium, Denmark, Portugal,
Germany and Japan covering
more than 1.34 million OFWs.
jumpers. Before this tragedy
happened, there had already been
a number of instances where
fire almost broke out also due to
faulty wirings, she added.

She underscored that it
was only fortunate that the recent
fire did not reach Palanan B, the
subsequent sitio, because one of
the houses in the boundary has
firewall or else it would be much
harder to extinguish the fire.

“Ngayon miniting talaga
(ang mga residente) na kung
maaari kapag bumalik sila ay
iwasan na iyong jumper-jumper,
nakaw-nakaw sa kuryente dahil
kapag hindi po nila tigilan iyon
masusunugan nang masusunugan
sila ulit,” Rayala said.

In light of this incident,
Senior Fire Officer 1 Jojit Santiago
of the Quezon City Fire District
stressed that it is important to
know the number of the nearest
fire station so that response will
be immediately deployed.
Meanwhile,
Edward
Castillo, Chief of Operations and
Warning section of the Quezon
City Disaster Risk Reduction
Management Office said that
the Quezon City Government is
at present giving priority to the
safety of the people especially
informal settlers living along
waterways, fire-prone areas and
those along the West Marikina
Valley fault.

The Department of
Agriculture (DA), who owned the
land where the fire broke out, had
a dialogue with the victims and
other residents. DA, together with
the National Housing Authority
(NHA), offered the Palanas
residents a chance to have their
own home. The residents need to
vacate the area within the next two
years and move to relocation sites
located in Norzagaray, Bulacan
and Morong, Rizal. (PAE/ARB/
JDS/JCG/LP/PIACentral)
Andrea R. Bancud (right) of the Philippine Information Agency Central Office gathers information from the officers of the Department
of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) in Quezon City on the assistance given to the recent fire victims of Sitio Palanas in Brgy.
Vasra. (PAE/PIACentral)