Maniolas

MANILA, Philippines – The Social Security System (SSS) has disclosed the terms of its new 10-percent across-the-board pension increase for work-related claims under the Employees’ Compensation (EC) program and the doubled EC funeral grant. Both increases will be implemented retroactively beginning September this year. Agnes San Jose, SSS vice president for Benefits Administration, said the pension hike covers about 17,200 active EC pensioners under SSS as of August 31 for permanent partial disability, total disability and survivorship. SSS claimants of EC funeral grants for deaths dated Sept. 1, 2013 onwards are entitled to the higher P20,000 benefit, San Jose said. President Aquino approved the EC benefit upgrades under Executive Order 167 issued last May 26. The EC program, which provides additional benefits for employees with work-connected sicknesses, injuries and death, is administered by SSS for the private sector and by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) for the public sector. Business ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 “Claimants covered by the date of effectivity whose EC funeral grants of P10,000 were already settled by SSS will each receive an additional P10,000 in burial benefits, given the retroactive implementation of the increase,” San Jose said. “Pensioners will get higher EC pensions, as well as the additional benefits resulting from the retroactive date of effectivity, in September 2014 upon completion of our system changes,” she added. The new increases stemmed from SSS’ proposal to hike EC pensions and EC funeral grants for SSS members and beneficiaries, which was submitted to Read More …

Philippine President Benigno Aquino vowed Friday to deliver self-rule to minority Muslims by January 2015, in line with a peace treaty signed with its largest rebel group. “We’re hoping that all the steps will be finished (so) that they can take position by January of 2015,” he told reporters. The pledge followed Aquino’s surprise meeting in Japan on Tuesday with Murad Ebrahim, the country’s top Muslim rebel, to address growing concerns over delays in implementing the peace deal signed in March. The pact made Murad’s Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the government partners in a plan to pass a law creating the autonomous region by mid-2016, when Aquino is required by the constitution to stand down. Muslim rebels have been battling for independence or autonomy in the southern islands of the mainly Catholic Philippines since the 1970s, with the conflict claiming tens of thousands of lives. A commission composed of rebel and government nominees drafted a proposed “basic law” for the autonomous region, and it was submitted to Aquino in April as part of a timeframe to have Congress pass it by June. However, Aquino said Friday: “There’s a need to further refine the language so that it really states a meeting of the minds of both parties.” Aquino said he and Murad reviewed the “broad strokes on how to come up with the basic law that will ensure swift passage in Congress,” during a 10-minute meeting on the sidelines of a Hiroshima peace conference. He said their representatives Read More …

By Doris C. DumlaoPhilippine Daily Inquirer 6:10 pm | Thursday, June 26th, 2014 SCREENGRAB from www.alphaland.com.ph MANILA, Philippines — The estranged partner of Alphaland Corp. in the Alphaland Bay City (ABC) project has questioned the inclusion of the former’s stake in this venture as part of a settlement deal between the property development group led by businessman Roberto V. Ongpin and British fund Ashmore. In a statement on Thursday, the Wenceslao group said Alphaland could not transfer its shares in the joint venture to Ashmore unless it has been allowed to exercise or waive its right of first refusal. The Wenceslao group said it has formally asked Alphaland Development Inc. (ADI) to “honor its contractual obligations.” The Wenceslaos insisted on its right of first refusal under the shareholders agreement governing the joint venture between Wenceslao and ADI to develop the marina project located in Aseana City, a 32 -hectare development sandwiched between PAGCOR Entertainment City and Mall of Asia. The group has also claimed it has a “tag-along” right, which allows it to sell its holdings in the joint-venture company ABC on the same terms Alphaland is transferring its shares to Ashmore. “We need to look at the terms first between Alphaland and Ashmore before we can decide whether to exercise or waive our right of first refusal, or invoke the tag along,” the Wenceslao statement added. The Wenceslaos claimed that the joint venture was supposed to have 32 hectares of property, out of which Alphaland had reportedly contributed 10 Read More …

A WEB-based application that promotes awareness, tracks reforestation sites, and helps sustain local communities through eco-tourism bested 41 other entries at the first-ever Hack the Climate: Manila held from June 6 to 8. The 56-hour hackathon, or coding marathon, was the longest hackathon ever mounted globally. It was organized by two Princeton University students, Jacob Scheer and Michael Lachanski, with a grant from Davis Projects for Peace through the Pace Center for Civic Engagement. It was supported by Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart), through the Smart Developer Network, and the De La Salle-College of Saint Benilde. Team Instigators won the grand prize for its app, Tanaw, a web-based application which has geo-locator features and heightens environmental awareness by tracking reforestation sites. At the same time, it hopes to bolster economic activity in local communities via tourism by promoting various destinations in the country.The team is composed of young developers Dominic Tuazon, Mic Gutierrez and Louis Michael Concepcion. Runner-up was Team Superuser with Agila, a Cloud-based cross-platform solution that helps track the user’s energy usage and carbon footprint and how much one is contributing to climate change. The app links up communities that have the same advocacies for the environment. Comprising the team are developers Ivan Dominic Baguio, Joniel Ibasco and Kix Panganiban. “Many of the applications developed during the hackathon showed promise for commercial deployment. The output also showed the relatively high level of awareness of the young developers on climate change, and how they have creatively integrated this into the Read More …

MANILA, Philippines—In Singapore, more employers are hiring private detectives to trail their maids. Such is the case of 27-year-old administrative assistant Shoba Devi, who got suspicious when her Filipina maid of a few months started chatting on the phone late at night. “Devi, who is single and lives with her father who is in his 60s, said: “I didn’t know if she had a boyfriend and I was worried for our safety if she brought her boyfriend home,” She said in a report by The Straits Times published on June 25. Last February, Devi hired a private investigator to check out on her maid during her days off. It turns out that the maid- who is in her 20s and married- had a Bangladeshi boyfriend. On her days off, they would eat out, shop and later check in a budget hotel. “I kind of expected her to have a boyfriend but I was shocked that she checked into a hotel with her boyfriend. What would happen if she got pregnant? So I sent her home,” Devi said. Devi spent S$2,500 or (US$2,002) for three days of monitoring her maid and she thinks it’s all worth it. The report said that private investigators charge about $1,000 (US$800) and S$4,000 (US$3,203) to track maids. The same report said that six investigators they interviewed all got regular assignments every month to track maids, and the demands double during June and December school holidays when families go on holiday and leave the maids at Read More …