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By Riza Lozada The SM Foundation is reaching out to Filipinos who are in need by employing the wide reach of the extensive network of the SM Group through its many malls, stores and business establishments spread throughout the country.

THE issue of the planned Social Security System (SSS) pension increase for retirees is not over yet.

A Senate resolution was filed last week to seek an investigation, in aid of legislation, of the country’s foreign loans that now stands at $77 billion, as the Duterte administration indicated it may borrow more to finance its planned massive infrastructure buildup of about P200 billion a year.

The Duterte administration will tap the China-led Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank  (AIIB) to fund a total of P61.22 billion worth of infrastructure next year.

By Luis Leoncio President Duterte signed into law Republic Act No. 10924, or the General Appropriations Act (GAA) for Fiscal Year 2017, the first budget under the Duterte administration, as he took pride on the allocation item that will free farmers from paying irrigations fees.

By Riza Lozada From 2001 to 2014, the so-called road users’ tax or the Motor Vehicle User’s Charge (MUVC) raised a total of P112.5 billion against releases of P105 billion resulting in P7.5 billion balance in the fund, a study made by government think tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS) showed.

Ayala Corp.’s energy unit AC Energy will sell a 15 percent stake in South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp. (SLTEC) to Axia Power Holdings Philippines Corp. (Axia Power), a subsidiary of Marubeni Corporation.

The Philippines’ rock-solid macro­economic funda­mentals and the Duterte administration’s infra­structure buildup strategy will create enough fiscal and mon­etary buffers for the country to ride out external shocks, such as the latest move by the US Federal Reserve (Fed) Board to raise interest rates, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III said.

Key reforms in the agricul­ture sector are expected to produce results next year in line with the thrust of the De­partment of Agriculture (DA) to achieve self-sufficiency, starting with the department assuming control of food-re­lated agencies, Agriculture Secretary Emmanuel “Man­ny” Piñol said.

By Luis Leoncio The pension of more than 2 million members of state pension fund Social Securi­ty System (SSS) will be raised by P1,000 a month starting next year after both chambers of Congress passed a resolu­tion last week calling for the immediate pension increase.