LandBank to service GSIS NegOr pensioners soon
by: Jennifer Catan-Tilos
DUMAGUETE CITY, Apr 26 (PIA) Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) pensioners in Negros Oriental are expected to open a savings account with Land Bank as their retirement fund servicing bank.
In a memorandum of agreement, the GSIS is authorizing the state-run bank to service the old age and survivorship pensioners.
According to GSIS Branch Head Cecilia Tenaja the move is to make easier for the members, especially in the provinces, in the case of Negros Oriental and Siquijor with 4,244 old-age pensioners, to access their benefits and other loans.
Siquijor pensioners have started to use Land Bank’s facility last March this year, while pensioners for Negros Oriental are expected to transact with LBP on the second quarter of this year, Tenaja said.
LandBank savings accounts for GSIS members have been opened with automated teller machine (ATM) services specifically for the pensioners.
However, GSIS official said those who choose to keep existing savings accounts with the Union Bank of the Philippines can still use the GSIS eCard to transact the nearest Union Bank ATM.
LandBank service will be gradually expanded to all GSIS members as soon as the pilot GSIS branches have already tested, it is said.
Withdrawing monthly pension benefits and pension loans do not carry any transaction fees.
Both LandBank and Union Bank ATM cards may be used in any Megalink,Bancnet, and Expressnet machines. (PIA NegOr/JCT)
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San Jose LGU eyes marketing agri products in Dumaguete
by: Rachelle M. Nessia
DUMAGUETE CITY, April 25 (PIA) --- Encouraged by the positive results of the Bagsakan ng Barangay after it launched on April 13, the San Jose municipal government is eyeing to market its bountiful agricultural produce from its local organic farmers to suppliers in Dumaguete City.
This after the abundance of San Jose's locally-grown food products was noted after the Bagsakan center started operating in a building located in front of the San Jose Police Station.
San Jose Municipal Agricultural Officer Rene Amores in an interview observed that the Bagsakan center is flooded with a glut of fresh, pesticide-free farm goods such as vegetables, meat, fish and poultry products which are more than what consumers in San Jose can buy.
The food products sold at the center were bought straight from San Jose's farmers and fisherfolks and sold at the prevailing market price, according to Amores.
In view of this, San Jose Mayor Emmanuel Remollo is hoping to sell off some of the center's spillover to suppliers in Dumaguete City. "We are planning to provide some of our agricultural products to suppliers such as hotels or maybe restaurants in the city," the mayor told the Philippine Information Agency.
To do this, Remollo plans to buy one brand new unit of dump truck this year that will transport the excess agricultural goods at the Bagsakan center to merchants in Dumaguete City, including vendors at the Tabo sa PAO, a project of the provincial government wherein marginalized farmers from the far-flung towns can sell their produce directly to consumers, eliminating the need for and the dditional expenses for middlemen.
The mayor said San Jose produces a significant portion of the farm goods being sold at the Tabo. "As much as 40% of the agricultural products being sold at the Tabo come from our town," Remollo said.
Farmers and fisherfolks in San Jose town currently have to hire the services of a habal-habal, a local and costly mode of transportation, in order to transport their goods if they want to sell in Dumaguete City. (RMN/PIA Negros Oriental)