India's Minister of External Affairs Dr. Subrahmanyam Jaishankar flew to Manila after meeting his counterparts from the United States, Japan, and Australia known as Quad or Quadrilateral Security Dialogue in Melbourne. In a statement, the Department of Foreign Affairs said Jaishankar met with DFA Secretary Teodoro Locsin Jr. Monday morning…
MANILA, Feb 14: External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar on Monday held productive discussions with his Philippines counterpart Teodoro L Locsin and defence minister Delfin Lorenzana during which they covered a range of issues dealing with mutual national security and development aspirations. Jaishankar’s three-day maiden visit to the Philippines comes over two weeks after the key Southeast Asian country signed a USD 375 million deal with India to buy three batteries of the BrahMos cruise missile. “Held productive discussions with FM […]
The Philippines’ House of Representatives approved legislation to suspend further increases to the Social Security System (SSS) contribution rate despite objections from the pension fund’s chief executive officer, who warned it would worsen the fund’s already “dire” financial position.
House of Representatives Speaker Lord Allan Velasco, who had proposed the legislation, argued that postponing the rate hikes would provide “much-needed relief” to Filipinos coping with fallout from the coronavirus crisis.
“These are extraordinary times, thus the remedy needed to further unburden our countrymen are also extraordinary,” he says in a statement on January 21 after his bill won lawmakers’ approval.