No Pension Increase For Retirees, Only Bonuses For Social Security Board Directors And Officers

March 7, 2016 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

MANILA, Philippines (The Adobo Chronicles, Manila Bureau) – In 2015, Philippine Congress approved a P2,000 (about $42) pension hike for retirees. It’s not going to happen because President NoyNoy Aquino, upon successful lobbying by the board of directors and officers of the Social Security System (SSS), vetoed the bill.

Now we know why SSS directors argued that the agency has no financial capacity to fund the proposed pension hike: they needed the money to pay themselves their “performance bonuses.”

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos has dared President Benigno Aquino III to block the performance bonuses being sought for by board directors and officers of the SSS. Marcos said that she also could not understand why these SSS directors and officers still have the gall to ask for bonuses after claiming that the pension fund for private individuals has no financial capacity to finance the pension hike for retirees.

Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said the the SSS officers gifted themselves with more than P10 million in “performance-based bonus” in 2012 on top of their salaries and other benefits and perks, which amounted to tens of millions of pesos.

Kilusang Mayo Uno Vice Chair Roger Soluta claimed that SSS executives led by president Emilio de Quiros received P117 million in salaries, allowances and bonuses in 2014. De Quiros said the performance bonus was justified because it earned P35 billion in profits in 2015 or more than four times its earnings of P8 billion in 2010.

That’s $35 billion that will go towards ensuring the secure future of the SSS directors and officers!

Government, International, Politics

Mexican, Philippine Legislators Vote To Ban Donald Trump

March 6, 2016 Pol Pinoy 2 Comments

MEXICO CITY, Mexico (The Adobo Chronicles) – Legislators in Mexico City passed a proposal asking the federal government to ban Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump from entering the country, citing his repeated anti-Mexican and anti-immigrant comments.

The proposal was approved unanimously, according to Deputy José Manuel Delgadillo of the conservative National Action Party.

Taking its cue from Mexico, members of the Philippine Congress unanimously passed a resolution similarly condemning Trump and banning him from visiting the country.

Although, Trump has not singled out Filipinos in his anti-immigrant comments, Filipino legislators felt that his statements might as well pertain to their countrymen who are among the largest immigrant populations in the United States. They also cited the fact that Mexico and the Philippines have a long history of friendship dating back to the Acapulco Trade. “We’re doing this in solidarity with the Mexican people,” one congressman said. (In fact, there is a town in the Philippine province of Pampanga named Mexico, in honor of the friendship between the two countries.)

When he launched his presidential bid last year, Trump called Mexicans ‘rapists’ and ‘bad people.’ One of his campaign promises is to build a great wall along the U.S.-Mexico border. He has repeatedly said that he will ask Mexico to pay for the cost of building the wall.

The Filipino legislators fear that if elected president, Trump will totally ban all immigrants to the United States and deport Filipinos currently residing therein.

Government, Politics

Why Melania Trump Can Never Be First Lady

March 6, 2016 Pol Pinoy Leave a comment

WASHINGTON, D.C. (The Adobo Chronicles, Washington Bureau) – Just hours after it was announced that former First Lady Nancy Reagan has died, Republicans have come to the conclusion that Donald Trump’s wife, Melania, can never be First Lady.

Not that the GOPers are discounting the possibility that Trump could be elected the next president of the United States. Rather, it is because Melania is the Republican frontrunner’s third wife. Trump was previously married to, and divorced from, Ivana Trump and Marla Maples.

“So technically, even if Trump becomes president,” they said, “Melania will not be the First Lady. She is the third.” Additionally, they pointed out that Melania is not a natural-born citizen. She was born in Slovenia.

Trump’a first wife Ivana, could potentially sue to claim the title of First Lady. But Ivana was not born in the U.S. either. She was born in Czechoslovakia.

Would that mean the second wife, U.S.-born Marla, can claim the title?

Nothing in the U.S. Constitution specifically discusses the issue of who can be First Lady, so any challenge to Melania or Ivana may eventually be decided by the Supreme Court.