DU30 raises SSS pension; foreign loan sharks warned

MAKING true his campaign promise, President Duterte has approved a 11,000 increase in the Social Security System (SSS) monthly pension effective immediately.

Yes! To thy words be true so people would love you. ***

SSS Chairman Amado Valdez said in a Malacañang briefing that the initial 11,000 pension hike will be released this month and will be followed by another 11,000 hike in 2022 or even earlier.

Malacañang approves the 12K total pension hike to help old pensioners cope with the high cost of living – and dying. ***

“The first 1 1,000 (will be released) this January. We projected the next 11,000 in 2022 but if we are able to implement and get favorable results maybe it won’t take until 2022, maybe by 2019, we can already comply with the next 11,000,” Valdez said.

Staggered increase would save SSS from staggering financially. ***

SSS President Emmanuel Dooc assured the public that SSS has enough funds to support the pension hike and the survival of the agency.

Hello, SSS members. Rest and sleep well. ***

To ensure the financial stability of the SSS, the President and the Cabinet agreed to arrest and prosecute delinquent employers violating SSS premium payments.

And no more excessive bonuses to SSS officials, they said. ***

“File charges and arrest them,” the President ordered, referring to delinquent employers after learning that only 40 percent of the 33 million SSS members are paying their premiums.

Stop “excessive allowances and honorarium given to top SSS officials,” DU30 added. ***

“I made the commitment during the campaign and after the elections that I will give the ageing SSS members additional pension for them to buy their medicines in their old age,” Duterte explained during the long and intense Cabinet discussion with economic managers.

And so it’s a “win-win” solution, says Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar. ***

Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel Piñol said President Duterte has ordered the arrest and deportation of foreigners involved in dubious money-lending schemes.

“That is already too much. They lend you money with a “5-6” interest and sell appliances at a high price. The poor can never survive that kind of scheme,” Piñol quoted the President as saying. ***

Duterte has directed Foreign Affairs Secretary Perfecto Yasay Jr. to inform the Indian Ambassador in the Philippines about his decision “to stop such usurious lending scheme in the Philippines,” of Punjabis because “they are violating Philippine laws by indulging in a money-making business without the necessary permits.”

Time for more soft loans to save borrowers from hardships, as DU30 prescribed.