President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. named Social Security System (SSS) Executive Vice President for the Branch Operations Sector Atty. Voltaire P. Agas as the Officer-in-Charge (OIC) of SSS. In a memorandum signed by Executive Secretary Lucas P. Bersamin dated October 17, Agas was designated as the OIC of the state-run pension fund to ensure the continuous and effective delivery of public service to its members, pensioners, and their beneficiaries. Agas started his career at the SSS in 2012 as its Chief Legal Counsel, a position he held until 2022. Since March 2022, he has been overseeing all SSS branch operation activities nationwide, including membership expansion programs, contribution collections, and benefit processing. He is a seasoned public servant with more than three decades of government service in various capacities, such as in the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO), National Prosecution Service, both under the Department of Justice (DOJ), and as a trial judge in Quezon City.  He is the first career official coming from the ranks of the SSS to be designated to serve as its OIC. After obtaining his law degree from the San Beda University, Agas began his legal career as a PAO lawyer, which he held from 1989 to 1994. His exemplary service as a public attorney has earned him the Outstanding Public Servant Award, a recognition recently given to him by PAO in August 2024 during the 8th MCLE-Accredited National Convention of Public Attorneys. In the private sector, after graduation from the University of the Philippines, he was engaged as a socio-economist in community development projects under the Asian Development Bank and the World Bank.  As a lawyer, he had more than a decade of experience as a corporate legal manager and chief compliance and governance officer in the Ayala Life Insurance Group now known as the BPI AIA Life Assurance Corporation (BPI AIA). He replaced Commissioner Robert Joseph M. De Claro who was earlier designated by the Social Security Commission (SSC), the policymaking body of the SSS, as the OIC to ensure the continuous day-to-day operations of the pension fund “until a replacement is designated or appointed by the President.”  De Claro will remain a member of the SSC, wherein he represents the Employers’ Group.        

Manila —The United States Peace Corps, with support from the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), recently launched the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Toolkit, a comprehensive training guide designed to help Peace Corps Volunteers and their partner communities build resilience by enhancing their disaster preparedness capability. The DRR Toolkit contains resources on developing disaster preparedness strategies, conducting risk assessments, managing community resources, and strengthening early warning systems.  As an inclusive training guide, the DRR Toolkit promotes the active participation of all community members in pre-disaster planning. From October 14 to 18, the Peace Corps gathered 28 of its Volunteers, staff, and work partners from the Philippine government and non-government institutions for an orientation-training based on the DRR Toolkit in San Mateo, Rizal. Funded by USAID, the training program deepened collaboration and knowledge exchange between the Peace Corps and its work partners, helping strengthen the disaster preparedness programs of local communities. “The DRR Toolkit is a vital resource for helping communities build resilience and reduce the impact of disasters and extreme weather events,” said Peace Corps Philippines Country Director Marguerite Roy.“The toolkit is very inclusive and can be easily integrated and used as a guide in the participatory planning and mentoring activities in the communities,” said Engineer Raoul Cam of the City Planning and Development Office of Ormoc City, Leyte.  “I will be glad to endorse the toolkit to my colleagues in the local government unit and partners in other sectors that are involved in the DRR advocacy.” To help participants observe DRR practices in action, they also visited the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) office and the Marikina City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. Since its establishment in 1961, over 9,300 Peace Corps Volunteers have served alongside host communities across the Philippines to address the country’s most pressing development priorities, including the disaster preparedness of vulnerable communities.