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OFWs Decry Added Burden as PhilHealth Increases Premiums to 3% of Monthly Salary

Overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) decry the added financial burden they are experiencing as PhilHealth pushes through with its plan to increase premiums starting this year, charging 3% of their monthly salary!

PhilHealth Increases OFW Contributions

According to PhilHealth Circular No. 2020-0014 entitled “Premium Contribution and Collection of Payment of Overseas Filipino Member”, OFWs whose monthly income ranges from Php10,000 to Php60,000 need to pay 3.0%. That is an increase from 2.75% in 2019.

While 3% might not appear to be big on paper, it actually is an added burden to OFWs because the actual amount is actually big!

Philhealth increase premiums
Photo credit: ABS-CBN News

For example, Filipino domestic workers who usually earn around Php20,000 ($400) per month must pay Php600 ($12) per month or a total of Php7,200 ($145) per year as PhilHealth coverage. Considering the many contributions that OFWs have to pay before going abroad, this amount is already a huge burden to pay.

But that’s just for those earning Php20,000!

Overseas Filipinos who earn more than Php60,000 must pay Php21,000 ($420) for annual PhilHealth premiums.

What’s worse, this is just the beginning. If you already feel that 3% is a big burden, wait until you realize that the premiums are going to gradually increases each year from 2019 to 2025. It started with 2.5% in 2019, growing to 3% in 2020 but will be 3.5% in 2021, 4% in 2022, 4.5% in 2023, 5% in 2024 and 2025!

Philhealth increase premiums
Photo credit: PhilStar

From the same examples above, the domestic helper earning Php20,000 a month will be paying Php1,000 per month or Php12,000 per year! Likewise, the OFW earning more than Php60,000 will have to pay Php3,000 a month or Php36,000 per year!

Obviously, those who earn more need to pay more. The income ceiling will be set at Php100,000 by 2024. By then, anyone earning Php100,000 above will pay Php5,000 a month or a whopping Php60,000 a year!

Photo credit: Philippine Health Insurance Corporation / Facebook

OFWs Seeking for Repeal

OFWs launched a petition to seek repeal of this circular. On Change.org, nearly 300,000 have signed the on-going online petition entitled, “Remove Philhealth Mandatory 3% Premium Payment from OFW’s salary.

“I believe that we OFWs and our dependents have been already struggling amidst this Pandemic and yet Philhealth had issued a very unfair memo regarding premium payments.

I believe that this is already too much of them to ask for an interest rate and a penalty which is very unfair and inhumane for those who travel away from their families to work. It is very unfortunate that they call OFWs modern heroes and yet they penalize us with such directives.

We urge the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (Philhealth) to reverse this directive as this is unfair and an abuse to our migrant workers.”

Lifestyle

Prayer before Meals? Photo of Kneeling Customers of Roadside Carinderia Goes Viral

A photo of kneeling customers at a roadside carinderia goes viral, with many netizens joking that these “religious” buyers are already praying before their meal. LOL

Photo of Roadside Carinderia’s Kneeling Customers Goes Viral

In the Philippines, carinderias are a popular place for finding affordable, budget-friendly meals.

They’re usually small stalls with simple dining sets where people can dine for much less than what you’d normally get billed at a restaurant.

Carinderias themselves can still be considered a restaurant, but they’re a toned down version with much cheaper rates. You can even order “takeout” meals that they’ll usually put inside plastic roll bags instead of a Styrofoam or cardboard box you might expect from a regular restaurant.

And while carinderias aren’t usually the subject of a viral post, one recently gained social media fame after some customers have been photographed kneeling while taking their order.

Now, we forgot to mention that many carinderias have a loyal customer base of people who often go there on a regular basis. Many of them might be workers or students in the area. Other carinderias also have nearby residents as regular customers.

kneeling buyers
Photo credit: Casper Correche

So, it isn’t surprising that when a carinderia was affected by a new road made several feet above the old one, the loyal customers kept coming back to the their favorite food source.

The only difference is that now they have to adjust and kneel down so they can check the food items being offered by the carinderia.

A photo of the said carinderia, credited to Facebook user Casper Correche, was shared on Facebook page “Calbayognon.” In the post, the page identified the carideria to be somewhere in Calbayog, Samar.

The page joked that the three guys seen in the photo were ordering one more serving of adobong manok before ending it with an “Amen.” It’s like they’re already done praying before they get to eat their meal.

How Road Widening Affects People in the Philippines

There are lots of great benefits to road widening:

  • Better roads
  • Wider roads that can accommodate more cars
  • Less traffic

However, road widening can also some negative effects:

  • Roadside houses and establishments might be included in the expansion
  • Some of these buildings can also become lower than the road level, leading to various issues (and the owners don’t usually get compensation to change their houses so they can be at road level again)
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News

Customer Wants Free Portrait, Sends Bible Verse to Make Artist Feel Guilty

A customer wants free portrait – and had the audacity to send a Bible verse to make the artist feel guilty for trying to ask for payment in exchange for the drawing! Whoa.

Customer Wants Free Portrait, Guilt-Trips Artist with Bible Verse

These days, it has become easier for artists to connect with new customers through apps, messaging, and other social media or online tools.

You can even find an artist on Facebook marketplace, TikTok, Instagram, or just about any online platform available.

What’s sad is that these artists also encounter a lot of bogus “miners” or those who request for an artwork to be done, but then vanish without a trace. For example, a customer canceled two paintings created by a deaf-mute artist after he was already trying to deliver the pieces!

artist portrait
Photo credit: Chaboy dela Cruz / News5

Recently, someone reached out to artist Chaboy dela Cruz to ask him to create a portrait.

And while that isn’t something new, the artist had a good sense to ask whether the person he was chatting with had plans to pay for the commissioned art – because they actually didn’t want to pay up!

This person even set the deadline, but was shocked to learn that the artist was asking for payment over the artwork.

artist portrait
Photo credit: Chaboy dela Cruz / News5

Instead of asking how much they’re supposed to pay, this freeloader sent dela Cruz a screenshot of a biblical passage from Hebrews 13:5-8, which says in English, “Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have (because God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake).

What’s even more hilarious about the customer’s demand is that they didn’t even know the artist personally. You’d think they were friends by how they worded the post. LOL.

How Much Do Drawings And Portraits Cost?

This actually depends on several factors, but mostly the artist’s talent and name. You’d see newbie artists charging as low as Php100 per bond paper-sized portrait, but the same thing could fetch thousands of pesos, maybe even millions if commissioned by a famous artist.

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Inspiring

Doctor Goes Viral for Beautiful Penmanship and Writing Instructions in Filipino

A doctor goes viral for beautiful penmanship – and we also love that he writes the instructions in Filipino for his patients to better understand. Isn’t that awesome?

Doctor Goes Viral for Beautiful Penmanship

Yes, doctors are known for having a really bad, barely readable penmanship. There’s even an on-going joke that only pharmacists can understand what they write (which is actually true on many occasions).

Thankfully, many doctors have realized that writing their prescription in incomprehensible handwriting might lead to errors in dispensing the medications.

Photo credit: Robert Dominic Gonzales

This can be dangerous, actually, especially because some medications can have lethal effects when given in incorrect doses or to someone with certain underlying medication conditions.

Recently, one doctor went viral for writing prescriptions in calligraphy-like handwriting – and she isn’t the only that impressed netizens with good penmanship.

Dr. Robert Dominic Gonzales amazed netizens when he shared a photo of a prescription that he had written for a patient.

It’s very clear from the prescription that he described this patient with Losartan at 50 mg per tablet.

Photo credit: Robert Dominic Gonzales

The prescription is good for 30 tablets, with clear instructions written in Filipino for the patient to drink one tablet per day to control high blood pressure.

Dr. Gonzales captioned the post, “From practicing the alphabet, writing essays, and answering tons of exams… we’ve come to this point of using a pen and paper.

The impressive handwriting amazed netizens who mused that doctors should learn to write prescriptions in this manner so that it will be clear to the patient, not just to the pharmacist.

He explained that it’s best to write prescriptions in a manner that’s clear for everyone to help avoid medication errors. He added that taking the wrong medication due to these errors can put the patient’s life in danger.

Photo credit: Robert Dominic Gonzales

How to Make Sure You’re Taking the Right Medicine

  • Check your doctor’s prescription to see if you can understand what’s written
  • Don’t be shy to ask the medications’ names and the right dosage you need to take
  • Don’t be afraid to request your doctor to make the medication name easier to read so you won’t mix up your medicines
  • Double check the name of the medicines you receive from the pharmacy
  • Buy a pill box or labeled container to help you keep track of the medications (many people forget whether they’ve already taken the medicine or not)
  • If you have plenty of medicines, organize them and create a list of what you need to drink for a particular hour of the day
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