 | Primer On Party
List Law
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| What Is PARP?
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| Why You Should Vote PARP for your Party List
Representative
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Seated left to right: Godofredo R.
Rueda, Adviser, Bernardo P. Pentecostes, Adviser, Atty. Vicente A. Estela,
Legal Adviser, Evangelina P. Garchitorena, President, Natividad S. Sadia,
Secretary, Rosario B. Puerta, Bus. Mgr., Melisa D. Evangelista, Bus. Mgr.
Standing: Filomeno Peņaflor, PIO, Cynthia A.
Jallores, Treasurer,
Not in picture: Abelardo Balisnomo, Vice -
President, Delicias V. Galvante, Auditor.
| There are twelve (12) sectors identified by law which
may participate in the party - list system of elections: youth, women,
handicapped, elderly (includes PARP), overseas workers, veterans,
professionals, peasants, urban poor, fisherfolk,
and indigenous communities. |
| In the May 10, 2004 party - list elections, COMELEC
has certified fifty six (56) party - list groups (Including PARP) that
are participating. |
| Twenty per cent (20%) of the seats in the House
including party - list seats is reserved for party - list
representatives as mandated by law. In this election, the 56 party -
list groups will vie for fifty four (54) seats in the House of
Representatives. |
| A party - list group that gets two per cent (2%) of
the votes in the party - list system is entitled to one seat; 4%, two
seats, 6%, three seats. No additional seats will be allowed even if the
party - list obtains more than 6% of the votes. Additional seats may be
given to those who won seats, in proportion to the number of votes they
obtained. |
| In the party - list system, voters do not write the
name of a person on the ballot but the name of the party - list group -
PARP - in the slot for party - list representative on the ballot. |
Why is PARP running in the May 10, 2004 party - list
elections? So that the neglected interests of the elderly, especially
retired persons, can be heeded and given the necessary legislative and
government support.
| The Philippine Association of Retired Persons (PARP)
is a national, non profit organization of retired executives and
employees of private and government sectors and self - employed persons
who contributed to and thus are members of Social Security System (SSS)
and Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS), respectively. |
| PARP was organized on May 9, 1999 and registered with
SEC on June 23, 1999 by a group of retirees led by Amado F. Cabaero, a
retired bank eecutive, who decided to work for increased pensions of
retirees, about 80% of whom were then receiving pensions of P1000 to
P2000 monthly. PARP's main purpose is to promote and
protect the well - being and the interests of retired persons as well as
enhance the quality of their lives and dignity as human beings. What has
PARP done so far? |
- PARP wangled an across - the - board
increase in pensions of retirees by 10% in 1999 and another 10% in 2000;
- PARP proposed amendments to the SSS and
GSIS charters to index pensions to inflation or cost of living to
increase them to more livable levels;
- PARP filed criminal and administrative
charges against SSS officials found responsible for the granting in 1999
and 2000 of anomalous loans and investments resulting in losses to the
System;
- PARP filed a case against some SSS
officials and employees who connived to stage an illegal strike against
the SSS management to the detriment of SSS members;
- PARP denounced the irregular accounting
treatment of losses in SSS investments, as shown in its financial
investments, to avoid exceeding statutory limits on their operating
expenses;
- PARP denounced and continues to press
for cut - backs in the excessive salaries and perks of officials and
employees and other expenses of SSS and GSIS;
- PARP actively participated in
Congressional hearings on proposed bills and in investigation of SSS on
matters that affect its stability; and,
- PARP is the advocate and guardian of
the interests of all the members of SSS and GSIS.
PARP has 30 chapters and over 5,000
members nationwide. It chargees P100 for lifetime membership of persons
who are at least 50 years old and retired persons of any age, including
spouse. It provides opportunities for volunteerism.
PARP's slogan is "To Serve As We
have Served". The unstated purpose is "...that future retirees may
get what they deserrve".
| As a voter, do you know what Party List
representative you should vote for? |
| Chances are, you don't know. Few Filipinos do. |
| Chances also are that you are a member of the SSS.
After all, 25 million Filipinos are members of this organization. |
| Because of your sweat and hard work over many years,
you and 25 million others who have faithfully made your monthly
contributions now have accumulated a massive fortune of P160 Billion
pesos in SSS! |
| Clearly, such wealth must be jealously guarded, and
taken care of. |
| Question: Is the SSS taking care of your money? No! |
| The SSS is raping its members! Consider this: |
| By law, SSS is required to invest your money
only in very safe, conservative investments, never in dubious ones
with high risk. |
| Yet during the incumbency of President Estrada, ha
made his classmate Mr. Carlos Arellano the President of SSS, and
together they connived, for purposes of securing massive "fees" for
themselves, for tiny Equitable Bank, then headed by another Estrada
classmate, to buy out the giant bank PCIB, neting P14.3 billion of
your SSS money! |
| Now, the successor of Mr. Arellano, Mrs. Corazon
dela Paz, has secretly negotiated, in Executive Session meetings
startlingly devoid of minutes, to sell SSS's P14.3 billion investment
in Equitable PCIB (the resulting bank after the buyout) for the
equivalent of a bargain amount of P8.1Billion (despite higher offers),
for a loss to you, the SSS members, of a staggering P6.1 billion! |
| Not only are the officers and management of SSS
making extremely careless and imprudent investments using your money,
they are also freely spending it on themselves, enjoying immense and
unbeleivable salaries and perks. |
| Consider this: The Executive Vice President
receives a monthly salary of P300,000, equivalent to P3.6 million per
year! Vice presidents (there are many) receive only somewhat lesser.
In 2003, total representation expenses were about P64 million, bonuses
P271 million, discretionary expenses ("whatever") P340 million,
benefits P1.2 billion, ans salaries and wages an astronomical P1.6
billion. Why is so much money spent for the simple task in members'
monthly contributions, and lending and investing these? |
| Clearly, SSS officers are not protecting the SSS
members. Who can protect them? |
| Thank God, a knight in shining armor has come to our
rescue, in the person of retired Senior Vice President of Solid Bank,
who, together with some dedicated former executives, established PARP,
the Philippine Association of Retired Persons, which was incorporated on
June 23, 1999. |
| PARP is committed to promoting the
interests of the retired, to mandating the inclusion of a PARP
representative in the Board of the SSS, to the election into Congress of
a PARP member as a Party List representative, and thereby
facilitate the passage of beneficial legislation, etc. |
| Toward this end, PARP ran in the last
election as a Party List candidate, but because not enough people had
heard about it, not enough votes were garnered. |
| This year, PARP is once again running. We must win
this election, and place our representative in Congress to protect us,
the exploited and abused retirees and members of the SSS! |
| So are you still wondering which Party List
representative you should vote for? |
| Write PARP in the slot in your ballot
designated for Party List! |
| Protect your investment in the SSS and the
investments of future retirees! |
| Let us all help put PARP in
congress! |
| VOTE PARP! |
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