PAG-IBIG Mandatory Coverage for Overseas Filipinos Workers
|
| |
The Embassy is pleased to announce that under the Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 2009 (R.A. 9679),
sea-based and land-based overseas Filipino workers are now covered by the Pag-IBIG Fund.
As Pag-IBIG members, OFWs may enjoy savings that earn annual dividends that are tax-free.
Members may also avail of short-term loans to address immediate financial needs and housing loan of up to
P3 million with repayment terms of up to thirty years.
The Embassy urges all overseas Filipino workers based in the United States to register now.
For further information, please click on the following links:
· Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 2009
· Questions and Answers for OFW-Members on the Mandatory Coverage under Republic Act 9679
|
| |
PGMA off to Vietnam for the 16th ASEAN Summit: Then to US, Spain
|
| |
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo will leave Thursday (April 8) for Hanoi, Vietnam to attend the 16th Association
of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit and Related Meetings.
The summit, which will run from April 8 to 9 has the theme “Towards the ASEAN Community: From Vision into
Action.”
The Summit is expected to discuss measures to accelerate the development of communities and the
implementation of the ASEAN Charter, strengthen cooperation among members, improve ASEAN capacity to
challenges and expand cooperation with other partners.
ASEAN leaders will likely focus on concrete actions towards strengthening the ASEAN Community by 2015, the
Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.
Among the other areas for discussions are the implementation of the ASEAN Charter and Roadmap for the
ASEAN Community, ASEAN Connectivity, Sustained Recovery and Development, Climate Change and other
global challenges.
Vietnam has assumed this year’s chairmanship of the ASEAN Summit as it observes its 15th year of
membership in the 10-nation ASEAN.
President Arroyo will be accompanied by a lean delegation that includes Foreign Affairs Secretary Alberto
Romulo, Finance Secretary Margarito Teves, Trade and Industry Secretary Jesli Lapus and Press Secretary
Crispulo Icban, Jr.
The ASEAN Summit is the first of President Arroyo’s three foreign engagements spanning one week.
On April 12-13, she will be at Washington DC to attend the 40-nation Nuclear Security Summit to be hosted by
US President Barack Obama.
From the US, she will proceed to Spain for an official visit from April 15 to 16 and to receive the Premio
Internacional Don Quijote de la Mancha for promoting Spanish language and culture in the Philippines.
At the Hanoi Summit, President Arroyo will attend the ASEAN Heads of State Meeting with the ASEAN inter-
Parliamentary Assembly (AIPA) Representatives at the National Convention Center.
She will join the nine other heads of state and government during the formal opening ceremony at the NCC’s
Main Meeting Hall where Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung will deliver his opening statement. After
the opening rites, President Arroyo will join her counterparts at the Plenary Session. In the evening, she will
attend a “working dinner” among the ASEAN heads of state at the Melia Hanoi Hotel.
The next day, she will join the nine ASEAN leaders at the ASEAN Summit’s Retreat Session. Before a scheduled
luncheon to be hosted by Vietnamese President Nguyen Minh Triet at the Presidential Palace, President Arroyo
will pay a courtesy call on the Vietnamese leader.
The DFA said that among the Philippine initiatives in the Summit is the offer to host the ASEAN
Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights’ (AICHR) Secretariat in Manila.
The AICHR, which was launched at the 15th ASEAN Leaders’ Summit in October 2009, is the overarching
human rights institution in the region, the establishment of which was agreed upon in Cebu during the ASEAN
Retreat in 2007.
DFA further said the Philippines will support the ASEAN Connectivity Initiative and call on the members of the
High Level Task Force (HLTF) to focus on the development of a digital highway and the use of ICT as a tool for
connectivity.
At the same time, the DFA said that the issue of climate change will be among the Philippines’ priorities during
the Summit, the country having experienced recent calamities such as typhoons Ketsana and Parma.
The DFA stressed the Philippines will continue to assist in building an ASEAN community “resilient to climate
change” and will call on ASEAN to identify mutual concerns and interests, and agree to engage actively and
constructively in the way forward in climate change negotiations.
As chair of the 15th ASEAN Committee on Disaster Management, the Philippines will reiterate its commitment to
shepherding the ASEAN member states towards the operationalization of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster
Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) Work Program 2010-2015, DFA said.
The Philippines will also seek ASEAN support for the 2010 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference
in May. Guided by the principles of the Southeast Asia Nuclear Weapon Free Zone (SEANWFZ), the Review
would be an opportunity for ASEAN to act in a concerted manner, added DFA.
|
| |
PGMA to DTI: Cushion impact of soaring iron ore prices
|
| |
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo ordered today the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to find ways of
counteracting the soaring price of iron ore in the world market that could impact on the local real estate and
construction industry.
The President issued the directive after the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) presented
the looming problem in the joint Cabinet-NEDA meeting in Malacanang.
In a media briefing, NEDA Undersecretary Dennis Arroyo told reporters that global price of iron ore could likely
double due to the quarterly price negotiations controlled by the big three global players.
Iron ore prices increased recently by some 90 percent after new quarterly pricing agreements were introduced
by the big three players --Vale of Brazil; BHP Billiton, an Anglo-Australian firm; and Rio Tinto a British-Australian
multinational mining company.
Arroyo said the new quarterly system replaced the traditional annual benchmark pricing for iron ore.
Although he expects a big 9.5 percent rebound in world trade, Arroyo said the main problem right now is the new
quarterly arrangement that opens “more room for speculation and volatility.”
Arroyo said the new system or oligopoly of the three sellers were presented to the Cabinet meeting presided by
the President who gave immediate instructions to the DTI.
“The President has directed DTI to look into solutions on how to counteract this,” Arroyo said. “So the DTI will be
looking into solutions.”
In his conservative assumption, Arroyo said a 100 percent increase in iron ore prices will lead to about 30
percent increase in steel prices that could probably impact on the local construction sector starting in the latter
part of this month.
Arroyo said the Philippines is currently importing iron ore and steel at about $1billion annually.
He said one solution being looked into is the United States which is offering cheaper iron ore prices, being a net
exporter of the chief ingredients of iron ore, coking coal and scrap.
“So the US offers cheaper iron ore and steel. So we may turn to them as one avenue to explore,” Arroyo said.
|
| |
|
