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By Luis Leoncio  There may yet be a happy compromise to end the raging controversy over the P2,000 increase for pensioners of the Social Security System (SSS) that was aborted by a presidential veto that now seriously threatens the electoral chances of the ruling party’s candidates in next May’s elections, from its presidential candidate down. 

By Riza Lozada  While most Filipinos, particularly car owners, public-transport operators and drivers and commuters, have benefitted greatly from the decline in the world prices of oil, the development has become a nightmare for the country’s estimated 2.2 million overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) in the Middle East, the world’s main oil source, who are now in danger of losing their …

By Jerry Maglunog  A wave of mergers is expected to engulf local banks after integration has become the norm, with the establishment of the Asean Economic Community (AEC) last December. 

Malacanang said it was saddened by the deaths of 14 Filipinos in a hotel fire in Iraq’s Kurdistan region Friday and that it was working with Iraqi authorities to bring home the remains of victims. 

Manila—A fire at a hotel in Iraq’s Kurdistan region on Friday has killed 17 people, including 14 Filipinos, a Philippine Embassy official said. 

By Luis Leoncio The minority in the House of Representatives plans to question before the Supreme Court the “railroading” of President Aquino’s pet bill, the Public Private Partnership (PPP) Act, on the final session of Congress before it went on recess for the election period. 

By Jerry Maglunog  Contrary to the Aquino administration’s proud boasts of inclusive and sustainable growth, the past five years of his term showed the economy failed where it mattered most—in the agriculture sector where a third of the Filipino workforce are employed. 

By Luis Leoncio  The improved fiscal space that President Aquino and Finance Secretary Cesar V. Purisima have been citing for the string of ratings upgrade the country has received from credit watchdogs should have provided the source of funds for the proposed P2,000 increase in the monthly pensions for retired members of the state pension fund Social Security System (SSS), …

By Riza Lozada  The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) has sought the view of local banks on a proposal to redefine their real-estate exposure, to include investments in socialized-housing developments. 

President Aquino directed the Department of Health (DOH) to monitor the situation abroad and study the Zika virus to ensure public safety, a Malacañang official said.