News
RP Hosts 20th ASSA Board Meeting - November 12, 2007
The Philippines recently hosted the 20th Board Meeting of the ASEAN Social Security Association (ASSA) during which noted personalities in the health care industry in such countries as Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Brunei, Vietnam, Singapore, Lao PDR and the Philippines exchanged insights on various health care issues affecting the region. Shown sharing a light moment after the opening ceremonies held at the Heritage Hotel in Pasay City are (L-R): Datuk Azlan Zainol, ASSA Chair and President, Employees Provident Fund Malaysia, Dr. Francisco T. Duque III, Health Secretary and PhilHealth Board Chair, Lorna O. Fajardo, PhilHealth Acting President and CEO and Atty. Romero S. Quimbo, President and CEO of the Home Development Mutual Fund.
In her welcome address, Fajardo stressed that the theme of the Board Meeting was in itself the legacy of the participants for generations to come. "The generations to follow will look back to the gains we have made in ensuring the sustainability of our social security programs... those who sat down and talked about the ways to promote and preserve their social security programs," she said.
Duque urged the delegates to go beyond the traditional ways of providing social protection to households. "We need to look at other factors that will affect our sustainability and that of the environment within which we operate," he said, adding that there is need to harness the potentials of the youth segment. "We need to engage the youth," he said, emphasizing that he advocated for the inclusion of the value of social security in collegiate courses.
Also present at the pre-Board Meeting ceremonies was Horace Templo (left), Executive Vice President of the Social Security System (SSS), here shown sharing the table with Fajardo, Quimbo and Duque.
Quimbo listens intently as Antonio Meloto, Founder of Gawad Kalinga, explains the mission that has inspired him to continue building houses for the less privileged Filipinos. Meloto was among the guest speakers for the Pre-Board Meeting sessions.
A delegate raises a question for Meloto during the plenary. In his address, Meloto zeroed in on the need for Filipinos to recognize the fact that poverty is a mitigating circumstance. "Our thrust is to make the weak strong, providing home security, providing them with higher standards and quality of life, food security, the support for self-governance, self-reliance and self-sufficiency and we appreciate the support of the different national agencies for the programs we have," he said.
Former Environment Secretary Elisea R. Gozun enlightened the delegates on the current state of the Philippine environment, stressing on the fact that "…much of our virgin forest is lost.We used to have 70 percent of land area forested; by 1999, it went down to a mere 18.3 percent and might go down to six percent. Because of this, we see a lot of denuded areas, loss of habitat for flora and faura and the situation is compromising the watershed, leading to soil erosion." She added that "environmental protection is key to achieving social security, health, homes and the like..but more importantly, environmental protection is essential to sustaining life itself. We need to protect the environment to have blue skies, we should continue protect it to have clean water, clean air, and our land and our seas should remain productive…...as we strive to give our children a good future, we strive to provide them with a best investment and that is to protect the environment."
The PhilHealth Chorale enthralled the delegates with their soulful rendition of various numbers, including a Christmas Song that officially marked the start of the long Christmas holidays in the country.
The ASSA Pre-Board Meeting also had several presentations on good practices in different member-countries. In photo are delegates from Thailand listening intently to the presentors.
Listening to the best practices presentations were (L-R): PhilHealth Senior Vice President for Risk Management and Actuarial Services Octavino Q. Esguerra, Zainol and Ibrahim Taib, also of Malaysia. The Best Practices presentations were aimed at learning from the initiatives from other member-countries in various aspects of implementing the social security protection aim of the ASSA.
Zainol and Taib discuss matters during the second day of the Meeting which gathered more than a hundred delegates and guests from ASSA member-countries.
Esguerra, Fajardo and Zainol exchange insights during the Meeting.
Fajardo accepts the symbol of the ASSA Chairmanship from outgoing ASSA Chairman Zainol. The turnover ceremonies were held during the 20th ASSA Board Meeting held in Manila recently.
The officers and delegates to the 20th ASSA Board Meeting pose for posterity at the close of the ceremonies.
A trip to the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) Head Office in Pasay City also enabled the delegates to take a first-hand look at how the G-WAPS was implemented.
Delegates observe how the GWAPS is being activated in a kiosk at the GSIS Head Office. (Photos by Juanito G. Pineda, PhilHealth Public Affairs Department)