What happened to the second tranche of P1000 in the mandated increase of P2 thousand in the monthly pension of retirees covered by the Social Security System (SSS). It’s been more than half a decade since the first P1000 was added to the then monthly pension.
The second tranche was promised by the Duterte administration to be released sometime in 2021 or at the latest in 2022. Now it is already into the eighth month of 2024 and the third year into the Marcos Jr. administration. All that we have read about the second tranche are either the fake news about its release posted on Facebook, or the plea of pensioners for the government, and the SSS for that matter, to release the second tranche of P1,000 if only to alleviate a little the suffering of the pensioners after several rounds of increases in the cost of prime commodities in the country.
On the other hand the SSS has already increased the members’ and employers’ monthly contributions to the fund. And the member employees and their employers could not do anything about it because not a single move from either the Office of the President and the Congress is done to at least temporarily hold the hike implementation in abeyance.
We do not know why the government seems to be so inutile to goad the pension agency to finally release the remaining P1,000 of the two thousand pesos mandated pension hike. Also equally intriguing the pensioners is the failure of government to let the SSS stand down its member contribution hike.
Perhaps there is truth to the suspicion of many members that the top officials of the pension agency are using a sizeable amount from the accumulated contribution to satisfy their desire for a continuing increase in their monthly salaries as well as the huge benefits they are receiving.
And if it is not the case, maybe there is truth to claims of some sectors that the SSS has invested some of the members’ money to losing ventures.
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“China is not an enemy to the Filipinos:” – news item. But of course. No one people would want to make enemy of a country many times larger a giant than the biblical Goliath. But what about China, does it consider the Filipinos enemies of its people, the Chinese? We do not think so. But we could be wrong as the actions of the Chinese harassing the Filipinos in the disputed West Philippine Sea show they want to be.
Clearly however, China is at odds with the United States even as they are also trading partners. And since the Philippines is more inclined to be friend with the United States, then it is not remote that should a war break out (which to us is unlikely) between the US and the Asian giant our strategic location makes our country an unwilling “sandwich” of the two clashing armament and technologically behemoths in the world.
We Filipinos can only hope that the “war” of the two countries will just remain in the economic battle front and not morph into an armed confrontation. Let us be reminded of the saying that “The friends of my enemies are my enemies as well.”
True that we Filipinos are known world-wide for our bravery in combat. Bravery though, perhaps can win a battle or two or three, or even more. But bravery alone cannot win a war.
And yes, for the longest time and even up to these days, many are not aware that we are already at “war” with the Chinese, not in the field of combat but in the economic battle front right here in our own country. Sadly, we Filipinos are at the disadvantage.
Who are in control of the big industries in the Philippines? Who are the owners of banks and other financial institutions that are providing money to run our economy? Who are the top retail magnets; airline operators, leading real property developers and construction businesses? All are Chinese carrying Filipino passports and with legitimate Filipino birth certificates – courtesy of corrupt government officials and purposely bendable laws.
Even politicians at the national level down to provinces and cities down further to municipal mayors and barangays, a good number are now with Chinese blood.
How then can we Filipinos win against the Chinese when many of them are already among our policy makers and implementers of laws?
So, all the more that China should not be made our enemy, neither are the Chinese. Rather, our government should endeavor to make that giant of a country our continuing trade partner. The Philippines must not let the blood that flowed from a cut finger during a confrontation in Atungin shoal be the “first blood” to trigger a destructive war that cannot be won by any of the possible belligerents but a massive loss by the entire humanity instead.
