Virtual Assistant Philippines
One of my jobs now is that of a Virtual Assistant Philippines, meaning I now do administrative and secretarial tasks for a client company in Florida while I live here in the Philippines. These I do for about four hours around midnight.
Search for Top Overseas Filipinos by BPI for its Fifth BPInoy Awards
Do you know of any Filipino living overseas, or an individual of Filipino heritage, who has contributed to the betterment of the Filipino community abroad, or who has elevated internationally the Filipino image?
Then you can nominate her or him for the fifth BPInoy Awards of the Bank of the Philippine Islands. Any individual or organization can nominate by writing a short article about the nominee, describing:
- how the nominee has contributed to the improvement of the Filipino community abroad
- why the nominee deserves recognition
- what is unique or exceptional about the nominee’s achievements
Nominations must be submitted to bpinoyawards@bpi.com.ph on or before September 15, 2010, addressed to Ms. Athena G. Balleza, Marketing Department, Overseas Customers Segment, Bank of the Philippine Islands.
Last year, the BPInoy awardees were:
- White House executive chef Ms. Cristeta Pasia-Comerford
- Dr. Eli Remalona, chief representative for the Asia and the Pacific of the Bank for International Settlements
- painter Mrs. Anita Magsaysay-Ho
For more info, visit www.bpiexpressonline.com.
UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply for Freelance Writers
A UPS or an uninterruptible power supply is helpful for home-based freelance writers in the Philippines where brownouts are part of life.
I bought this one on the picture from CD-R King, where some of the cheapest electronic supplies are sold, and it has been helpful. It gives me up to 15 minutes of time to save my files or send a rush email before the PC finally gives out.
This UPS also has a voltage regulator, so it’s two-in-one. The white power strip beside it is also helpful and saves bits of electricity. PCs still use electricity even if they’re off but unplugged from the electric outlet. With the power strip, you don’t have to unplug anything everytime you stop working on your PC.
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Freelance Writers — $5 Per 400- to 500-Word Article
Free HP Printer Scanner Copier with Smart Bro
Philhealth Branches — Membership Reactivation
Here are some tips when reactivating your Philhealth membership, based on what we recently experienced.
If you’re a former OFW who paid membership fees when Philhealth was still called Medicare, most probably your record is no longer with Philhealth. So when you want to be a member again, you will be applying as a new member.
You will use the new membership form, and you need to bring your birth certificate, your marriage certificate (so you can include your spouse as your dependent), and birth certificates (so your children will be enrolled as your dependents). Bring original and xerox copies.
If your spouse is a former Philhealth member, he/she can’t be enrolled as your dependent even if he/she has not paid his/her membership fees for more than 12 months. This was my case. I was rejected as a dependent even if I haven’t paid for more than 12 months.
What I should do, according to Philhealth, is to write a letter informing them I haven’t paid my premiums for many months and ask them to allow my husband to register me as his dependent. I hope Philhealth will address this issue in the coming months, so this type of letter is not needed.
Anyway, I wrote the letter, telling them I’m already inactive, and now I’m a dependent of my husband, who’s a former OFW and now an Individually Paying Member.
Here are the offices of Philhealth:
Main Office:
Citystate Centre, 709 Shaw Boulevard,
Pasig City
Trunkline: new number is 441-7444 (as of July 2011, no longer 637-9999)
Office Hours: 8am to 5pm, Monday to Friday
info@philhealth.gov.ph
Update as of August 12, 2010: Starting September 1, this branch will hold office at DAP Bldg., San Miguel Ave., Ortigas Center, Pasig City, within the vicinity of SM Megamall. To be sure if the branch has moved before or on schedule, call the office before going there.
Las Piñas Service Office
471 Editha Building, Alabang-Zapote Road,
Las Piñas City
Telephones: 5565374, 5565687, 8015256
Manila Service Office
Marc I Bldg., 1971 Taft Avenue,
Malate, Manila
Administrative – 5216776
Claims – 5232819
Collection – 5233959/5213610
Membership – 5217724/5239842
Caloocan Service Office
Remcor Bldg., Rizal Ave. Extension
between 10th & 11th Ave., Caloocan City
Tel Nos: 3652012, 3652014
Quezon City Service Office
F.R. Estuar Bldg., 880 Quezon Avenue,
Quezon City
Office of the Branch Manager – 3323022
Collection Section – 3323024
Membership Section – 3323132
Rizal Service Office
The Brick Road Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall
Cainta, Rizal
Tel No: 6815111
Makati Service Office
ITC Building, 337 Sen. Gil Puyat Avenue,
Makati City
solp@philhealth.gov.ph
Tel Nos: 897-1598, 897-2759, 897-6329, 897-3337, 899-4506
For those in the Alabang area, the Philhealth office is near SM Southmall. If you’re coming from Alabang, it’s to your right, after passing Southmall.
The minimum membership payment is 300 pesos (payment for one quarter, 100 pesos per month). You can pay for 6 months or more.
UPDATE:
Effective October 1, 2010, Philhealth premiums for professionals with a family income of more than 25,000 per month will increase to 600 pesos per quarter, or 2,400 per year, and then further increases to 900 pesos per quarter, or 3,600 pesos per year starting in the second year of the implementation of the premium increase. See Philhealth Premiums for Professionals.
Other Philhealth Branches Are in These Related articles:
Philhealth Branches in South Metro, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Lucena
Philhealth Branches in North Metro, Central Metro and Bulacan
Philhealth Requires Nine Months of Prior Payments
No Philhealth Payments Prior, No Philhealth Benefits
Freelance Writers — $5 Per 400- to 500-Word Article
And I got this job through Craigslist just this May. The only minus-point is that the workload is not that much.
But the good thing is, in this new project I earn in just two to three days what I’ve been earning in 6 days in the project I’ve been doing for the past 18 months. Also, the new project does not have a lot of specifications and keywords, and it has prospects of increased workload.
Fellow Pinoy freelance writers have been asking others to accept only writing jobs for not less than $5 per article of 500 words, in order to improve Pinoy writing rates in general. But it has not been easy finding these clients that really send the payments.
A lot of freelance writing jobs on Craigslist are bargain-priced. Imagine getting paid for one dollar (that’s only 46 pesos!) for a 400-word original, researched article? And others even require the articles to be ready for spinning or with some other attached tasks!
Lastly, I’m thankful that I found a client that didn’t scam me. Recently, a fellow freelance writer wrote a lot of articles for a certain website, which suddenly disappeared, and which didn’t pay him. He got the client through Craigslist.
This January 11, 2011, Ash wrote something on the comments section, and I believe what she shared should be read by fellow starting and not-yet-there freelance writers:
“what an inspiring article. thank you for posting this. i had also recently begun freelance writing (used to work in an office) and i was surprised at the going rate of some.
my first offer was $.50/100 words, downgraded from my asking of $2.50/100 words. dirt cheap, i know, but i was new and didn’t have a thing to my name. plus, it was the holidays–i was unemployed, renting, sending a kindergartener to school and my post-shopping overall finances were running low. like P600 low. in short, i was desperate. lol.
good thing the employer added more subtopics bec he got inspired by what i wrote, so the word count increased by another 1000 words.
after 2 days, somebody interviewed me and, after showing him my written samples, he hired me on the spot for $10/hr. it’s only part time, though. which is just as well bec i very recently got hired for a full time home-based editing job that pays good.
i can research and write 1 article in 2-3 hours at my going rate. i don’t think i will lower it; i’m sure that i’m worth every penny i charge them. i know that some employers will tell you that if you don’t lower your rate, they can always find others who will work for much cheaper.
i don’t blame them, that’s their prerogative. my prerogative is this: if they can’t afford my rate, somebody who can will always find me.
and they just did. tonight, somebody contacted me saying they like my writing and will be letting me know when they have a job for me. i will be waiting. and writing and writing until i can justify upping my rate once more. in the future 
”
Thanks a lot, Ash.
UPDATE on my blogpost on freelance writing:
It’s now January 2011, and my working relationship with these clients I talked about in the blogpost has been going great. The primary client turned out to be a fellow Pinoy who has immigrated to the U.S., and when he vacationed here last October, we met and treated me to a great expensive lunch.
He and his foreign-born wife are again coming over here this February, and again I received an invitation for another lunch. Last December, he gave me a bonus. No one else in my past and present freelancing work has given me a bonus. My other employer, based in the Alabang corporate world, didn’t give a bonus. I didn’t mind it much though as bonuses weren’t in the homebased-employment contract that I signed.
Additionally, my work with this U.S. client doubled, as I helped bring traffic to his and his wife’s sites. Surely, if we give our best effort and we comply with the deadlines (although this client is flexible with the deadlines, but I don’t abuse it), we reap great fruits.
Related Article:
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Fellow New Freelance Writers in the Philippines — Some Tips
UPS Uninterruptible Power Supply for Freelance Writers
Pag-ibig Retirement in the Philippines — Process Your Claims Quicker
If you’re nearing retirement and you’ve had more than one employer, check as soon as you can if all the records of your contributions since your started contributing to Pag-ibig are already in one branch of Pag-ibig.
Pag-ibig does not consolidate the records of members whose employers are located in different Pag-ibig jurisdictions; it expects its members to consolidate their records.
It takes months to consolidate, so start now.
My husband, who had two employers and who also continued paying as a voluntary member while working abroad, had to track his contributions and consolidate them in one branch before he was allowed to submit his retirement claims.
The dollar-denominated Pag-ibig Overseas Program, however, is really separate. You make your claims separately at the Gil Puyat, Makati branch.
By the way, my husband has paid more than 240 monthly contributions, so he was to able to file a claim. But he’s still waiting because of the consolidation process.
Update as of March 2011:
My husband’s claim, which was processed over a span of several months in 2009, was rejected because Pag-ibig counted only 231 contributions. Pag-ibig advised my husband to pay nine monthly contributions, either monthly, quarterly, or at one time, but has to wait for 9 months before he can file his claim again. We didn’t yet refile because we decided the money can earn more with Pag-ibig than with a time deposit. We can use it for my daughter’s tuition fees in her higher years in college.
Related Articles:
PAG-IBIG Branches in Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan
Pag-ibig Retirement Linked to Pag-ibig Housing Loan
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Hello, I'm Mrs. Nors.
I write based on my experiences and research and I answer questions the best I can at the moment I'm writing my answers.
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