Duterte’s revocation of Trillanes’ amnesty... p. 4
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VOLUME XLI
No. 40
September 26-October 2, 2018
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PIA, SSS bring Sulit na Sulit campaign
to Laguna
CALAMBA
CITY,
Laguna,
September 26 (PIA) – The Philippine
Information Agency Region 4A (PIA
4A), through PIA-Laguna, and the
Social Security System (SSS) brought
the SSS Sulit na Sulit campaign to
the graduating students of Laguna
State Polytechnic University (LSPU)
San Pablo City (SPC) Campus last
September 7.
Around 450 graduating
students and faculty from different
colleges
of
said
University
participated in the Campus Forum to
learn and talk about SSS services.
Assistant Regional Director
Carlo Gonzaga stressed that PIA and
SSS work hand-in-hand to inform as
many Filipinos as possible and help
them reap the benefits from becoming
an SSS member from employment to
retirement.
SSS San Pablo City
Acting Branch Head Jose Rizal
Tarun encouraged the students to
pay attention to understand the
significance of this social insurance
program for future professionals like
them.
“I know you will not give
much value to this because you do not
need this yet, but I encourage you to
listen attentively to the presentation
for you will soon begin another
chapter in life, and surely you will
need SSS if you get hired in a private
company,” Tarun said.
The Branch Head pointed
out that the activity seeks to prepare
them for their future undertakings.
When they get employed in a
private company, they would be
equipped with knowledge of their
rights and privileges relative to SSS
membership.
He also urged everyone
to secure their SSS number from
the nearest SSS branch immediately
even while unemployed as it is
subsequently one of the basic
requirements for employment.
Accounts
Management
Section (AMS) Corporate Executive
Officer (CEO) Tiffany Lobo tackled
the value of SSS membership, the
details of application process, and the
benefits members may enjoy.
LSPU SPC Campus - Office
of Student Affairs Services (OSAS)
Chairperson Prof. Alberto Castillo,
extended the University’s gratitude,
on behalf of University President
Dr. Nestor De Vera, for being chosen
as the first stop of the Sulit na Sulit
campaign in the Province of Laguna.
The
Chairperson
commended
the
event’s
substantiveness as it will acquaint
their graduating students with the
mechanisms of SSS membership
earlier on in preparation for their
employment and/or business.
The event had been an
ideal venue for a proactive dialogue
between the students and the SSS
officers. Concerns were raised and
given due attention, while some were
even addressed on the spot.
PIA and SSS inked a partnership to
conduct series of information drive
activities around the country all year
round. (Joy Gabrido, PIA-Laguna)
Stranded passengers at
Batangas port get free meals
By MCA/PIA4A pooled report
BATANGAS CITY, Sept. 15 (PIA) --
Hundreds of passengers who remain
stranded at the Batangas port were given
free meals on Saturday after they have
spent two days waiting for the lifting
of sea travel suspension due to stormy
weather.
Close to 400 passengers and
more than 100 roll-on-roll-off (RoRo)
vehicles have been stranded at the port
since Friday as a result of rough seas
caused by Typhoon Ompong (Mangkhut)
which made a landfall in Baggao,
Cagayan at 1:40 am.
The authorities have yet to lift
the suspension in the afternoon on sea
voyage that was imposed Friday.
Fe
Faytaren,
Passenger
Assistance and RoRo Operations
Manager of Asian Terminal Inc., said
311 passengers were still waiting inside
the Batangas port’s Terminal 2 while 111
RoRo vehicles were at the port’s vicinity.
Of the stranded passengers, 28 were
senior citizens and 20 were children.
Most passengers were bound for the
provinces of Mindoro and Romblon.
Faytaren
said
to
ease
passengers’ woes, free meals were
distributed
courtesy
of
shipping
companies, Asian Terminal Inc.,
Philippine National Red Cross and the
Batangas social welfare office.
Meanwhile,
Ompong’s
landfall in Saturday morning also
brought intermittent intense rains and
gusty winds in the Calabarzon provinces
which remain under storm signal Number
1.
The Office of CIvil Defense-
Calabarzon said no casualties were
reported but at least two houses were
totally damaged in Ternate, Cavite and
another in Real, Quezon while nine other
houses were partially damaged in those
two provinces.
Power outages were reported
in Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Quezon
but were immediately restored. Uprooted
trees caused temporarily road blockage
in the towns of San Nicolas and Sta
Teresita in Batangas while knee-deep
flooding was reported in the villages of
Tagumpay and Tranca in Bay, Laguna.
In Cavite, 2,379 families or
6,480 individuals were affected. At least
1,041 families in Laguna; 105 families in
Batangas; 1094 families in Rizal and 742
in Quezon heeded calls for pre-emptive
evacuation. They have returned to their
homes Saturday afternoon. (MCA/
PIA4A pooled report)
PHOTO CAPTION: SSS San Pablo Acting Branch Head Jose Rizal Tarun answers query from one of the students
during the SSS Sulit na Sulit Campus Forum. (PIA4A)
DBM reduces budget for CHED’s
Tulong Dunong Program
by Mae Hyacinth Ludivico
THE Department of Budget and
Management reduced the allocated
budget for CHED’s Tulong Dunong
program from P4.19 billion this year
to P1.19 billion in 2019, making it to
a 251 percent decrease.
According
to
Commissioner Prospero de Vera III
of Commision on Higher Education,
at least 350,000 students are affected
of losing their scholarship for the
following year.
“More or less, the number
of students affected is 350,000.
That (reduction) is okay as far as
[scholars from] public universities
is concerned [because of the Free
College Education law], but as for
those enrolled in private universities,
then there is no more subsidy going
to them,” de Vera said.
The
Tulong
Dunong
program grants each student enrolled
in a public or private university with
a 12,000 worth of financial assistance
in a year.
He also noted that CHED
is hopeful that the beneficiaries of
Tulong Dunong program will find
refuge in the P16 billion worth of
Tertiay Education System (TES)
program. The TES program provides
assistance not only tuition and other
school fees but also living allowance
and school supplies.
The TES program provides
a government subsidy of P40,000
a year to each scholar enrolled in a
public university and P60,000 a year
to each scholar studying in a private
school.
“A lot of students will
fight for their slot in such situation.
Remember, the beneficiaries of
Tulong Dunong may not be under
the poorest [segment] unlike those
under CCT, but many of them are in
a situation wherein their only shot
at having college education is being
under the scholarship,” de Vera said.
De
Vera,
however,
admitted that the TES program
cannot accommodate all Tulong
Dunong beneficiaries since the TES
only offers 300,000 slots./gmanews
Duterte has certified anti-contractualization
bill as urgent
Mae Hyacinth Ludivico
THE chair of Senate committee
on labor, employment and human
resources
development,
Joel
Villanueva, released a copy of
President Duterte’s certification of the
passage of Security of Tenure Bill on
Tuesday, September 25.
In a report on GMA News
Online, Villanueva said Duterte wrote
a letter to Senate President Vicente
Sotto III on September 21 requesting
the immediate enactment of Senate
Bill No. 1826 or Security of Tenure
Bill.
The President said the
passage of the bill would strengthen
workers’ security of tenure “by
prohibiting the prevalent practices
of contractualization and labor-
only contracting, which continue to
immerse our workers in a quagmire of
poverty and underemployment.”
Villanueva
noted
the
practice of contractualization affects
more than 1.9 million workers in the
private sector. Overall, about three
out of 10 Filipino workers are not
regular and one out of two non-regular
workers are contractual.
The
senator,
then,
commended Duterte’s move to certify
the bill as a priority measure.
“We laud the move of the
President certifying our Security of
Tenure Bill as a priority measure. It is
important that we pass this into law to
finally put an end to work schemes like
‘endo’ and labor-only contracting,”
Villanueva said in a statement.
However, the bill is not
being deliberated on the Senate
while the House approved it on third
and final reading in January. The
certification will allow the Senate to
expedite the passage of the bill.
Once enacted into law, the
measure would remove the ambiguities
in the Labor Code, which he said is the
source of “circumventions”, and,
(a) prohibit labor-only
contracting, and provide penalties for
violation;
(b) limit job contracting to
licensed and specialized services;
(c) classify workers into
regular and probationary employees—
and treat project and seasonal
employees as regular employees;
(d) provide security of
tenure;
(e) clarify standards on
probationary employment; and
(f) provide ”Transition
Support Program” for employees
while they are not at work or
transitioning in between jobs.
”Senate Bill 1826 is clear enough to
meet the interests of the labor sector
and the interests of the business
sector,” Senator Villanueva said