ConCom adds educational qualification for lawmakers in recommendations
FORMER CHIEF Justice Reynato S. Puno, who leads the Consultative Committee (ConCom) created by President Rodrigo R. Duterte to review the 1987 Constitution, today, March 20, said that imposing educational qualification upon those running for legislative positions would help “improve the quality of laws that will come from Congress.”
In a press briefing on Tuesday at the Philippine International Convention Center, Mr. Puno said: “We also considered the fact that right now, if you look at the members of the Congress, the House and the Senate, you will find out that there are very few who lack a college degree. In effect, the committee recommendation is just an affirmation of the votes of the people in the past.”
Senior technical assistant to the chairman Ding I. Generoso noted earlier in the briefing that a college degree per se is not required as there is an existing Executive Order (EO) 330 issued by former President Fidel V. Ramos. The EO, which recognizes tertiary education equivalency “derived from relevant work experiences and high-level, nonformal training,” has been adopted into the committee recommendation, Mr. Generoso said. — Minde Nyl R. dela Cruz
GSIS pensioners required to make personal appearance
THE GOVERNMENT Service Insurance System (GSIS) is requiring its pensioners to make a personal appearance and confirm their data for the continuous receipt of their pension.
Exempted from the GSIS Annual Pensioners Information Revalidation (APIR) program are those 80 years old and above, disabled, abroad, or residing in Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.
“For those who are unable to do it, we visit them,” GSIS President and General Manager Jesus Clint O. Aranas said, adding that pensioners abroad can be reached through online channels.
The APIR program is intended to prevent payments to unqualified recipients.
“The key here is we must be able to verify that the recipient of these benefits are genuine and eligible. That’s the only way to protect the fund,” Mr. Aranas said.
GSIS was revalidating its pensioners under the Annual Renewal of Active Status (ARAS) program, but this was halted in 2011. Since then, Mr. Aranas said, the pension fund had lost P1.6 billion in payments to unqualified recipients. Data presented showed there were 4,843 pensioners who were overpaid.
Nora Malubay-Saludares, senior vice-president in the National Capital Region, added, “For those who will not be able to appear, we will conduct home visitation before we will suspend [paying their benefits] come end-July or beginning of August.”
Ms. Malubay-Saludares explained that GSIS has discovered that some pensions are not being received by the eligible pensioners but by their relatives.
GSIS expects 363,000 pensioners to update their status from March 23 to June 30 at “almost 1,000 kiosks available in malls, major government offices as well as city and town halls.”
Ms. Malubay-Saludares added the APIR is a one-time program, and GSIS will subsequently require its pensioners to annually renew their active status during their birth month. — Karl Angelo N. Vidal
