ISSUE NO. 38, December 22, 2005

Members can now ensure private properties with GSIS
The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) is offering affordable coverage for private properties of GSIS members.

GSIS recently launched three new general insurance programs to cater to its members' non-life insurance requirements - motor vehicle, fire and personal accident insurance - putting the lives and properties of GSIS members in safe hands.

These new insurance plans are available to both active and retired GSIS members. The legitimate spouses, legitimate children and parents of active members may also take advantage of the programs.

At 20% discount over prevailing industry rates, these GSIS non-life products are among the most responsive in the country.

Personal accident insurance covers contingencies of death, dismemberment or permanent total disability and provides medical reimbursement and bereavement assistance.

Fire Insurance covers residential, condominium, townhouse and apartment units, commercial and business units, and household or business fixtures, furniture and personal fittings. The properties must be registered in the name of a qualified assured. In cases of corporate properties, the qualified assured must own majority of the shares of the corporation.

On the other hand, the motor vehicle insurance covers vehicles up to ten years old except public utility vehicles, motorcycles and commercial vehicles like trucks. According to Christopher Alvarez, senior social insurance specialist of GSIS here, the motor vehicles must be registered in the name of the qualified assured and an authorized GSIS officer shall inspect the vehicle before a policy is underwritten and issued.

With the launching of these new non-life insurance products, GSIS members can now begin to enjoy property and personal accident protection at affordable rates.
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Employment creation remains government's top priority - NEDA
Socioeconomic Planning Secretary and National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Director General Augusto Santos today said creating employment remains the governments top priority among its policies and programs.

The provision of employment and livelihood to Filipinos is a top priority of the government as embodied in both the 10-Point Agenda and the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP) 2004-2010 commitments, he said.

As such, the government continues to address the growing underemployment rate among workers.

According to Santos, priority interventions include programs that insulate workers from the adverse effects of global oil hikes resulting in higher prices of basic commodities. Support to micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises through affordable loans and entrepreneurial training are also being implemented to cushion workers from the adverse effects for seasonal employment and work displacement, he pointed out.

Santos made the statement after the National Statistics Office (NSO) released the results of the October 2005 round of the Labor Force Survey (LFS), which revealed that the 1.135 million employment generated in October failed to compensate for the less than one million employment generated in the months of January (87,000), April (684,000) and July (889,000). Thus, average employment for 2005 reached only 699,000, or only 67.9 percent of the low-end Plan target of 1.029 employment creation for 2005.

Nevertheless, he said employment grew 3.6 percent in October 2005 over the same level recorded in October 2004. This 1.135 million employment generated in October is significantly higher than the 188,000 employment generated in October 2004.

By sector, the increase in employment was led by services, contributing 739,000 net employment, as gross value added in the sector rose by 5.1 percent during the third quarter of 2005. Net employment creation in wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, motorcycles and personal and the household goods subsector reached 426,000 due to strong consumer demand, Santos explained.
This was followed by the agriculture sector with 390,000 more employment than a year ago, with the agriculture, hunting and forestry subsector contributing 347,000 in employment generation as harvest season began.

The chief economic planner noted that industry managed only a net increase of 6,000 in employment as the construction and utilities sub-sectors posted a net decrease in employment of 27,000 and 13,000, respectively. The decline in employment in construction is attributed to the contraction in private construction and the slowdown in public construction due to fiscal consolidation.

According to Santos, the unemployment rate reached 7.4 percent in October 2005. This brought the number of unemployed to 2.62 million, he stressed. Thus, using the old definition, the unemployment rate eased to 10.3 percent in October 2005 from 10.9 percent a year ago.

The NEDA chief also said that employment creation in more stable and more remunerative jobs is tentative. While wage and salary workers comprised 51.7 percent of employed workers, growth of this type of workers was lower at 0.9 percent, compared to the 2.1 percent growth in October 2004. Hence, additional employment only reached 145,000 due to the 140,000 net reduction among workers in private establishments.

Meanwhile, there was a significant net increment of 515,000 in employment among own-account workers. This rise was attributed to the 592,000 increase in self-employment, compensating for the 77,000 decline among employers.

On the other hand, an additional 476,000 unpaid family workers were involved in, among others, agriculture, hunting and forestry (283,000) with the onset of the harvest season, and wholesale and retail trade, repair of motor vehicles, and personal and household goods (124,000).

Full-time employment, while comprising 62.7 percent of total employment, grew at a slower rate of 3.3 percent compared to the 5.5 percent increase in part-time employment. Full-time employment is defined as working at least 40 hours a week.

Shorter working hours and higher commodity prices and transport fares contributed to the desire of more people for additional work. This pushed up the rate of underemployment to 21.2 percent from 16.9 percent a year ago. The number of underemployed workers was 6.97 million from 5.36 million a year ago.
The underemployed workers were mainly in agriculture, hunting and forestry (625,00), wholesale and retail trade (337,000), manufacturing (126,000), transport, communications and storage (95,000), and fishing (92,000).

Of the total underemployed persons, 58.9 percent (4.102 million) were visibly underemployed or worked less than 40 hours a week. Relative to the total employed persons, they accounted for 12.5 percent, up from 10.1 percent a year ago.
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Larena retains Clean and Green award
Larena has, once again, emerged as the Cleanest and Greenest municipality in the province of Siquijor based on the result of the evaluation conducted by the Provincial Search Committee for the Gawad ng Pangulo sa Kapaligiran.

It is the 9th award in a row for Larena.

Winning by a very slight margin over Siquijor, it bested all other municipalities of the island, which automatically places the municipality as a regional nominee for the Annual Search for the Cleanest and Greenest local government units of the Philippines.

Among the criteria that set Larena ahead of other municipalities were the absence of eyesores as uncollected garbage and litter, absence of unsightly posters, streamers, graffiti, dilapidated and unsightly structures, abandoned junks, well-maintained public toilets in all government-owned or rented buildings and facilities, transportation terminal, including privately-owned gasoline station and the like.

Larena also showed high scores in its waste segregation practices at source, garbage recycling and/or composting system, clean an covered drainage system, absence of stray animals on streets and other public places.

On its urban space greening, the municipality surged over by its well-maintained "green" areas due to the presence of reforested public and private upland areas within the watershed and coastal area, presence of reforested public and private upland areas within the watershed and coastal area, presence of greenbelt areas, "Gulayan sa Bayan/barangay/paaralan" projects, and functional municipal and school plant nurseries.

For its support system, Larena fared well over in its budgetary requirement for the program, and monitoring and enforcement mechanism.

To make it even better, the municipality needs to further develop the facilities in the public market, food terminal, and slaughter house. Other Day Care Center facilities need to be maintained. Functional segregated trash receptacles with covers in public places and utilities need to be further improved. Planted thoroughfares/street islands/ or rotunda should be continually trimmed so as not to affect electronic power lines and public safety.

Parks, playgrounds, and historical/cultural landmarks need to be planted with trees, shrubs and ornamental plants. It also lacks other equipment and manpower, and it needs to further mobilize community and citizen participation in environmental protection and management.

SOUNDBYTES:

Low-salary workers spared from 10% tax
Minimum wage-earners from both the government and private sector will be exempted from the collection of withholding taxes beginning January as part of the government's efforts to help them cope with the rising cost of living.

Gov't has P35b in savings to spur growth
About P35 billion that was saved from the reduction of the budget deficit this year will be spent to pump-prime the economy in the form of expanded propoor programs - public works, housing, food, health and education.

Reyes warns against firing of guns on New Year's Eve
Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes warned all policemen against firing their guns during the New Year's Eve celebration to avoid injuries and deaths caused by stray bullets.

Napocor to use idle generating units in Cebu during shortage
National Power Corporation officials gave their assurance that the idle generating units at the Naga Power Plant Complex will be commissioned in case of a shortage in the Cebu-Negros-Panay grid.

Vizcaya highlands activate 'Telepono sa Barangay' lines
The Department of Transportation and Communications has made modern communication possible by activating the multimillion-peso Telepono sa Barangay project, enabling mountain villagers to link themselves with the "outside world."

JdV turns over P2 M to Freedom Fund
A P2-million fund made available to the media and the police by House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. is expected to bolster efforts at solving and stopping the murder of journalists in the country.

'Have an eco-friendly Christmas'
The Catholic Archdiocese of Manila, through its ecology desk, appealed to Filipinos to celebrate the season of Advent with care of the environment in mind.

Napolcom OKs creation of new PNP office
The National Police Commission approved the creation of the Program Management Office, an ad hoc office under the office of the chief of the Philippine National Police to serve as a central management facility for all reform initiatives.