The Kasambahay and Household Employer Unified Registration Form [DOWNLOAD and VIDEO INSTRUCTIONS]

A reader just informed me today that we can now register our kasambay (household helper) to three government agencies – the SSS, HDMF and Philhealth – in ONE registration step!

(Thank you, Leah. You rock!)

How to do it? Watch the video below. Then, scroll down further to download the form. 

Click a link below to download the Kasambahay and Household Employer Unified Registration Form:

• via HDMF server 
• via Philhealth server

CAN'T UNDERSTAND FILIPINO? HERE'S THE VIDEO'S TRANSLATED TRANSCRIPT:

As per RA 10361, or the Kasambahay Law, our household employees also have rights, just like ordinary workers. They should also be members of the PAGIBIG Fund, SSS, and Philhealth so that they can take advantage of their benefits. 

Because of this, the Kasambahay Unified Registration System was established. Here are the steps for household employees to register and become members of PAGIBIG, SSS, and Philhealth:

1. The household employer and household helper may go to the nearest branch of PAGIBIG, SSS, or Philhealth to get the Household Employer and Kasambahay Unified Registration Forms.
   
   Because the registration is already unified, only one agency needs to be visited to be registered with all three agencies. For instance, if the nearest office is a PAGIBIG office, the household employer and household employee can go there to be registered not just with PAGIBIG but also with SSS and Philhealth. You no longer have to visit the three agencies one by one. Now it's three in one!
     
2. Fill out the registration forms with the required information, such as full name, address, age, sex, birth date, civil status, etc.
      
3. Afterwards, submit the accomplished forms to be registered.
     
4. Just wait for the printout to ensure that you have been registered with the three agencies. When you receive the printout with the membership numbers for PAGIBIG, SSS, and Philhealth, sign it. 

You are now registered with the three agencies! You may now pay the necessary contributions at each agency, or go to a Bayad (Payment) Center outlet or to SM business centers. 

You may also download the Household Employer and Kasambahay Unified Registration Forms at these websites:

• www.pagibigfund.gov.ph
• www.sss.gov.ph
• www.philhealth.gov.ph

The Kasambahay Unified Registration Form – easier and more convenient!

The Nanay Notebook is written by Blessie Adlaon, a work-at-home and homeschooling mom of four. Check out our About page to know more about this blog's author and our policies on advertising, press releases, and reposting.

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How to Survive Without a Household Helper

(Image source: nornir)

These days, thanks to the well-meaning Kasambahay Law, it has suddenly become quite complicated to keep a household helper. 

In the old days, it was hard enough to find someone you could trust, who would stay for more than a year, and not ask for a salary advance in her very first month of work.

But now, it's far more complicated. You need to register your new household employee with three government agencies. You need to visit those agencies every month to pay contributions and report contributions. Oh, and you need to fill out each agency's multiple forms every time you remit contributions.

And if your helper decides to leave on her second month, you have to deregister her from all three agencies as well.

Perhaps it is time we learned to survive without a kasambahay. Here are some tips that may help you finally make that big leap towards kasambahay freedom:

1. Engage laundry services. It's hard to find a good helper; it's not as hard to find a good laundromat. 

With laundry services, you save on electricity, water, and soap. You don't have to hang your clothes up on the clothesline. If it rains, your clothes will still dry. And you don't have to fold them yourself! They arrive clean and folded, ready to put in shelves.

If there's no good laundromat nearby, you might also consider getting a fully automatic washing machine, the kind where you just load your clothes and they come out soaped, rinsed, and spin-dried. But yeah, you still need to hang and fold them yourself.

If you have clothers that need ironing, some laundromats offer ironing services too. But I've found that if I hang my husband's polo shirts properly and spritz them with water, then flatten all wrinkles and sharpen all creases with my hands, then hang them again to air dry, I don't need to iron anything at all. 

I haven't had a flat iron in the house for 11 years now. For myself and our kids, I never buy clothes that need ironing.

2. Cook in batches. Cook everything during the weekends, freeze them in meal-sized portions, and just microwave them the rest of the week. Train your kids not to complain if lunch is the same as dinner. 

In our house, instant oatmeal is a staple. Add hot water, some milk, sugar, and maybe Milo. Top it with fruit, and you've got a great, healthy breakfast, lunch, or dinner. My 8-year-old can whip up an oatmeal meal for the whole family in just five minutes.

3. Find a good day care center. Or hire a stay-out yaya. I've noticed that stay-out helpers tend to act more professional. They don't have that feeling of entitlement. Hindi sila masyadong at-home. 

If you can't get stay-out childcare, and you only need to leave the kids twice a week, maybe you can ask Grandma to come visit while you're out. Consider, too -- is bringing the kid with you really not an option when you go out?

4. Hire a housecleaner. Get a cleaning lady who will deep-clean the house for you once a week. The rest of the week, you don't even have to sweep the floor. Just pass a wet mop over it twice, and most of the dirt will be gone.

5. Get your kids to help. If you have big kids, this is a good time to start training them to do housework so that, hopefully, they won't need a kasambahay either when they grow up. My eight-year-old sweeps and mops our floor. My six-year-old feeds the rabbits and gives them water. My four-year-old keeps all toys before Kuya cleans the house. They all wash plates. 

Learn more

For more tips on how to get things done even without a kasambahay, check out this highly rated e-book: How To Work at Home With a Toddler, which comes with FREE international wireless delivery.

To read it, simply download the FREE Kindle app into your PC, Mac, Android, or iPad.

At just around P300, this book costs less than your kasambahay's monthly SSS and Philhealth contributions!

SPECIAL THANKS to the members of the Manila Work-at-Home Mom, who contributed many of these suggestions. If you are a Filipino work-at-home mom based in Manila or anywhere in the world, and you wish to join that support group on FB, please add Blessie Adlaon to your friends list so I can add you to the group. I will remove myself from your friends list as soon as I am done adding you.

The Nanay Notebook is written by Blessie Adlaon, a work-at-home and homeschooling mom of four. Check out our About page to know more about this blog's author and our policies on advertising, press releases, and reposting.

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The PAG-IBIG/HDMF Household Employer Under the Kasambahay Law: Register, Pay, Report

UPDATE: On December 2013, the government launched the 3-in-1 kasambahay registration system for SSS, Philhealth, and HDMF. This change affects the forms you need to submit in the Register portion of this guide. The Pay and Report processes remain the same, as far as we know. Please click on the link to download and learn how to use the Kasambahay and Household Employer Unified Registration Form.

Register

To register as an HDMF household employer, go to the Pag-Ibig online registration portal and choose Employer's Registration.

Fill out the form. For Business Name (per DTI/SEC registration), you can put your own name. For Start of Business Operation, put the date that your first househelp (who is still with you) started working for you.

Once you have completed and submitted the form, an employer number will be generated for you, along with a filled-out copy of the form.

Print this form and submit to the HDMF office, Marketing Division, a.k.a. Counter 1, along with

1. your kasambahay's membership data form (MDF), which was generated when you registered your kasambahay online (if you haven't done that yet, click here and choose Household Employee as your kasambahay's membership type);
2. your SSS form R1-A, R1 (photocopy), and R-3; and 
3. your Member's Contributions Remittance Form (MCRF).

Why is the HDMF looking for SSS documents? According to the SSS contact center, the two government offices are not yet connected, but they soon will be.

Interestingly, the agent I spoke with also mentioned that when she applied as household employer in June 2013, the HDMF did not ask her for any of the abovementioned documents, and they did not ask her to register as employer at the online portal either. 

So apparently, between then and now, there has been a change in policy.

After you register yourself as employer and your kasambahay as employee, you will be asked to pay the initial contribution.

Pay and Report

If your kasambahay is earning less than P5k per month, you will pay 4% of the kasambahay's salary. If your kasambahay is earning P5k or more, you will pay P200 to the HDMF, but you are allowed by law to collect P100 from your kasambahay, as his/her 50% share.

You need to go to the Pag-Ibig office to remit the payment, along with the Member's Contribution Remittance Form.

Arrears

Note that if you report your kasambahay to have been with you since 2005, you may be charged as far back as 2010, based on the Home Development Mutual Fund Law of 2009, which took effect in January 2010. The interest for HDMF arrears is 1% per month.

The Nanay Notebook is written by Blessie Adlaon, a work-at-home and homeschooling mom of four. Check out our About page to know more about this blog's author and our policies on advertising, press releases, and reposting.

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SSS Arrears and the Kasambahay Law: Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

After I posted my article on the SSS, Philhealth, HDMF and the Kasambahay Law, a few follow-up questions on the SSS were posted by some readers – and all of them are about arrears.

I'm posting the questions here, and the answers, based on what the SSS customer service hotline told me.

1. Our helper has been with us for several years already, but we are beginning to pay for his/her SSS contributions only this year. Will we need to pay for the past years?

Yes. If your househelp has been with you since 1990, you will have to pay contributions for all months starting from 1997 because the Social Security Act took effect in 1997. 

In addition, there is a 3% penalty per month of delay, as per Section 22 of the Social Security Act:

If any contribution is not paid to the SSS as herein prescribed, [the employer] shall pay besides the contribution a penalty thereon of three percent (3%) per month from the date the contribution falls due until paid. 

If your kasambahay has been with you for ten years on a P2,000 monthly salary, expect to be charged more than P60,000 total of contributions due plus penalties. (Ouch, I know!)

2. What figures will the computation of SSS contribution arrears be based on?

The computation will be based on the total contribution due, based on the kasambahay's salary.

Although the rule before the Kasambahay Law was that even those whose salary fell below P5,000 had to contribute an employee share, the SSS considers it your obligation, not theirs, to collect from your employee the employee share.

Therefore, their presumption is that you had collected that share in previous years and simply did not remit it to them.

3. Will I have to pay the entire sum in full all in one blow?

You may be able to arrange for payment in installments with your SSS branch office, but that, too, will be subject to additional interest.

4. After the contribution arrears have been paid, will my kasambahay be considered an active member for all the years paid? Will those years be included in the computation of the kasambahay's retirement pension?

Yes.

5. Ever since our kasambahay has been with us, we have been giving him/her money to pay SSS contributions. But recently, we discovered that our kasambahay has not been remitting those payments to SSS! What happens now? Will the SSS charge me for all those years that I inadvertently failed to pay for my kasambahay's contributions?

Unfortunately, yes. The SSS considers this an issue between you and your kasambahay. The SSS will have no part in it. As far as the SSS is concerned, you did not pay contributions, and they will base their computation of arrears on what they have on record.

6. Our kasambahay has been given a raise four times already since he/she began working with us. Which salary shall the SSS use to base its computation for my arrears?

You shall be asked to fill out a form on how much your kasambahay's wages had been in past years. This is a legal document, so you are expected to tell the truth.

DISCLAIMER: All information posted on this article are based on what I understood from my calls to the SSS hotline. I have made every effort to make it as accurate as possible, but I accept no responsibility for consequences that may befall you should any of the information here turn out to be wrong. Should you be aware of any inaccuracies in the information posted here, please inform me so that the erratum may be announced and the correction made. Thanks!

The Nanay Notebook is written by Blessie Adlaon, a work-at-home and homeschooling mom of four. Check out our About page to know more about this blog's author and our policies on advertising, press releases, and reposting.

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The Philhealth Household Employer Under the Kasambahay Law: Register, Pay, Report [Updated July 31, 2014]

UPDATE: On December 2013, the government launched the 3-in-1 kasambahay registration system for SSS, Philhealth, and HDMF. This change affects the forms you need to submit in steps 1 to 3 of this guide. The contribution and contribution reporting process (steps 4 and 5) remain the same, as far as we know. Please click on the link to download and learn how to use the Kasambahay and Household Employer Unified Registration Form.

Under the Kasambahay Law, kasambahays need to be registered as Philhealth members. If your kasambahay is not yet registered as an Individually Paying Member of the Philhealth, you could fulfill the Kasambahay Law by registering as a household employer and declaring your kasambahay as a household employee.

So what are the steps for registering as a Philhealth household employer? And what are your obligations after you have registered?

Here's a step-by-step guide:

1. To register as employer, fill out the forms ER-1 and ER-2.

NOTE: As per my call to Philhealth, if you report your kasambahay's start date to be earlier than the month that you register, then you and your kasambahay will be required to pay arrears based on the amounts required before the Kasambahay Law, with a 2% penalty (more or less – I am not sure about the exact computation) on the amount due to you as employer.

2. To register your kasambahay as member, have him/her fill out the Philhealth Member Registration Form for enrollment or to update member details.

3. To complete your registration, submit the forms and required supporting documents to a Philhealth office.

4. Start paying your kasambahay's Philhealth contributions.

• If your kasambahay is earning less than P5,000 per month, you are required to pay P200 per month. You shoulder this entirely.
• If your kasambahay is earning from P5,000 to P7,999 per month, you are required to pay P100 while your kasambahay is required to contribute P100 as well.
• If your kasambahay is earning P8,000 or more per month, click on the Premium Contribution Table link at Philhealth's Employed page to see how much you and your employee needs to pay. 

Remit your employees' Philhealth contributions on or before the 10th of the following month. Use the PhilHealth Premium Payment Slip to remit contributions.

Where to pay: Click on the link to find a list of Philhealth accredited collecting partners.

5. Report your payment to Philhealth on or before the 15th of the following month using the Remittance Report Form, or RF-1. To do this, you either go to a Philhealth office or report online using the Electronic Premium Reporting System (EPRS). Bring a USB to download the files you need for the EPRS.

The Nanay Notebook is written by Blessie Adlaon, a work-at-home and homeschooling mom of four. Check out our About page to know more about this blog's author and our policies on advertising, press releases, and reposting.

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The SSS Household Employer Under the Kasambahay Law: Register, Pay, Report [Updated July 31, 2014]

UPDATE: On December 2013, the government launched the 3-in-1 kasambahay registration system for SSS, Philhealth, and HDMF. This change affects the forms you need to submit in steps 1 and 2 of this guide. The contribution and contribution reporting process (steps 3 and 4) remain the same, as far as we know. Please click on the link to download and learn how to use the Kasambahay and Household Employer Unified Registration Form.

If your kasambahay has never been an SSS member, then you need to register as household employer so that your kasambahay can get an SSS number. (If your kasambahay has been an active member before being employed with you, he/she can simply continue as a volunteer member. Click here for details.)

Here are the things you need to know in registering, paying, and reporting your kasambahay's SSS contributions, as an SSS household employer.

1. To register yourself as an employer, get the forms R-1, R-1A, and L-501 from an SSS office, or download them from the SSS portal, then fill them out and submit to the SSS office nearest you.

2. To register your kasambahay, get the form E-1 and ask your kasambahay to fill it out. You will need to submit this to the SSS, along with the original copy (for presentation) and photocopy (for submission) of supporting documents.

You will find all required supporting documents at the back or bottom of the forms.

Also, bring a USB where you can upload the installer for the SSS R3 generator. The SSS requires employers to encode your contribution reports using this software, and they will not receive your forms if you do not submit a soft copy along with the printouts.

Important reminder: In the form R-1A, you will be asked for your kasambahay's date of employment. The SSS will require you to pay your kasambahay's contributions starting from the date of employment. Therefore, if you have receipts of payment in previous years, bring your receipts with you so you do not get charged a second time. It is also good to bring your kasambahay with you, in case the SSS wants to interview him/her, to make sure that the payments have been made in the past years.

3. Start paying your kasambahay's SSS contributions. Do so before the 10th of the following month. For your convenience, it is better to pay through SM Payment Centers, Bayad Centers, or SSS accredited banks, such as Chinabank, Metrobank, and BPI.

How much should you pay? Please refer to the 7th, 8th, and 9th columns in the table below (click the image to enlarge).

Note that if your kasambahay is earning less than five thousand pesos per month, you are required to shoulder 100% of the contribution. If your kasambahay is earning five thousand pesos or more, the contributions are divided, as indicated on the table (click image to enlarge):

4. Report your contributions quarterly. After you have paid your employees' premiums, you need to submit a summary of your employees’ contributions using forms R-3, R-5, and a copy of the bank's receipts within 10 days after the applicable quarter. 

You can submit your R3 form online by logging on to https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/register.jsp, and choosing Employer, then Household.

Reader's question: What if our kasambahay has been employed with us since the year 2000 but we only began paying contributions this year? Click on the link to see the answer: SSS Arrears and the Kasambahay Law.

The Nanay Notebook is written by Blessie Adlaon, a work-at-home and homeschooling mom of four. Check out our About page to know more about this blog's author and our policies on advertising, press releases, and reposting.

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SSS, HDMF, Philhealth, and the Kasambahay Law [UPDATED July 20, 2014]

By this time, all of us must have heard about the Kasambahay Law. We know that under the law, we are required to pay for our household worker's SSS, HDMF (PAG-IBIG), and Philhealth benefits.

How do you go about it, and what do you need to know?

SSS

If your kasambahay has been an SSS member in the past, you can fulfill the Kasambahay Law by simply registering your kasambahay as voluntary member and shouldering your legal share of the SSS payments. You do not need to register as employer. 

I got the above information from a supervisor at the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) contact center. (The agent passed the phone to her when she found out I was writing all these in my blog.)

If you are using this method of SSS payments for your kasambahay, the DOLE advises that you clearly indicate in the contract that although your kasambahay is registered as voluntary member, you are shouldering your legal share of the payments as employer. And make sure to keep your own copy of all receipts.

To change your kasambahay's membership status to Voluntary, simply make payments in his/her behalf using his/her SSS number, using the SSS Form RS-5. According to the SSS website, "Posting of said payment will change the membership status from covered employee, self-employed, OFW or non-working spouse to a voluntary paying member." 

If your kasambahay has never been an SSS member, then he/she cannot begin as a voluntary member (SSS rules forbid that; don't ask me why) and you, alas, will need to register as employer. I have a separate article on that. Click the link to read The SSS Household Employer Under the Kasambahay Law: Register, Pay, Report.

Now you can start paying your kasambahay's SSS contributions. Do so before the 10th of the following month. For your convenience, it is better to pay through SM Payment Centers, Bayad Centers, or SSS accredited banks, such as Chinabank, Metrobank, and BPI.

How much should you pay? See the table below (click to enlarge). If your kasambahay is registered as a voluntary member, then the required contribution is found on the last column (SE/VM/OFW).

Note that if your kasambahay is earning less than five thousand pesos per month, you are required to shoulder 100% of the contribution. If your kasambahay is earning five thousand pesos or more, the contributions are divided, as indicated on the table:

QUESTION: What if our kasambahay has been with us since the year 2000 but we only began paying contributions this year? Click on the link to see the answer: SSS Arrears and the Kasambahay Law.

Philhealth

According to the DOLE, you can register your kasambahay as Individually Paying Member (IPM). Do this by filling out the Philhealth Member Registration Form and submitting it, along with supporting documents, to the nearest Philhealth office. To find the Philhealth office nearest you, call the Philhealth contact center at (02) 441-7442.

As IPM, your kasambahay is required to pay P600 quarterly or P2,400 per year. As employer, you are required to shoulder this in full if your kasambahay is earning less than P5,000. If your kasambahay is earning  P5,000 or more, you shoulder half of the payments while your kasambahay shoulders the other half.

Now if you want to register as employer rather than register your kasambahay as an IPM, I've written a separate article on that. Please click the link to read The Philhealth Household Employer Under the Kasambahay Law: Register, Pay, Report.

Where to pay: Click on the link to find a list of Philhealth accredited collecting partners.

PAG-IBIG/HDMF UPDATED! (June 11, 2013)

For HDMF, you don't have to will be advised to register as employer, contrary to what their hotline agent told me earlier this month. I found this out because I went to the HDMF office today to register our househelp, and lo and behold, they told me to register as employer!

To see the steps on how to register as employer, click on the link.

On the other hand, I have just been on the phone with the Marketing Department of the HDMF main office in Cubao. Although they still advise that we register as employer, they admitted that there is no real sanction if your kasambahay is registered as individual payor, as long as you shoulder your legal share of his/her payments and have proof of doing so.

Whether or not you are registering as employer, you should register your kasambahay as member online. Click on the link to reach their online registration portal.

After your online registration, print out the Member Data Form that will be generated. Submit that form to the nearest HDMF office, along with

1. proof of income, which is basically a statement from you saying that Mr./Ms. So-and-so has been working with you since (the date of first employment) and is earning (amount) per month, and 
2. two of your kasambahay's valid IDs.

What valid IDs can you use for PAG-IBIG application if you do not have a birth certificate?

• Voter's ID (you don't need a birth certificate to get this; just fill out the form)
• Postal ID (you don't need a birth certificate to get this either)
• Philhealth ID (you can get Philhealth ID using these documents: http://www.philhealth.gov.ph/downloads/membership/pmrf.pdf)
• SSS ID (you can get an SSS ID using these documents: https://www.sss.gov.ph/sss/uploaded_images/forms/normal/e1.pdf)

Then, you can remit payments at the nearest PAG-IBIG office. Unfortunately, banks only accept loan repayments, not member contributions.

The PAG-IBIG website also says we can now pay monthly contributions through Gcash. However, there has been issues with the posting of payments this way, and there is currently no way that I have found of verifying posting of contributions via online.

On the other hand, you will receive a confirmation from Globe that your payment has been processed, so if you keep records of these verifications, you should be able to update your posted contributions using such records.

How much to pay? PAG-IBIG contributions are 4% of the kasambahay's salary, with maximum salary set at P5,000.

So if your kasambahay is earning, say, P4,000 per month, you pay the entire 4%, or P160, every month.

If your kasambahay's salary is P5,000 or more, you need to pay P200, but you can split this amount 50-50 between you and your kasambahay, so you only pay P100 each.

More Info

DOLE's FAQ: If you have more questions about the Kasambahay Law, like "Is our live-out yaya considered a kasambahay?" or "Am I required to provide my kasambahay with shampoo and soap, etc.?" then check out this FAQ published by the DOLE: Q&A on Batas Kasambahay.

For an easy-to-understand document on the Batas Kasambahay, here's GMA's Batas Kasambahay infographic.

Sample contract that you can use for your kasambahay: check out Smart Parenting's sample kasambahay contract. (Look at the bottom of the Smart Parenting page for the contract links.)

The Nanay Notebook is written by Blessie Adlaon, a work-at-home and homeschooling mom of four. Check out our About page to know more about this blog's author and our policies on advertising, press releases, and reposting.

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FREE DOWNLOAD: The Philippine K-12 Curriculum

This year, the Philippines finally took the big step and implemented the K-12 curriculum. It's true, we are ill-prepared for it, but in my humble opinion, this step is something like childbirth: No matter how much you prepare for it, you are often still caught flat-footed when the time comes -- but it's an inevitable step you need to take before you can get on with the extremely rewarding business of raising a child.

In any case, I know you're here not to hear about how much I love the K-12 curriculum and why. You want the curriculum download. So here it is. Please right-click on the links below and click "Save link as" to save the files on your computer:

Full K-12 curriculum (21.2 MB)
English and Mother Tongue (2.5 MB)
Filipino, Health, ESP (2.2 MB)
Filipino, Grades 1-10 (2.84 MB)
Araling Panlipunan (576 KB)
Mathematics (1.3 MB)
Science (10.6 MB)
Kindergarten (1.2 MB)

(Files uploaded June 18, 2012)

UPDATE: NEW English K-12 curriculum (uploaded April 17, 2013)

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Philhealth FAQ

Short news: Last Tuesday, my husband Neil suffered a cardiac episode, so we had to rush him to the National Kidney Transplant Institute – which, by the way, is currently the cheapest good-quality government hospital in Quezon City.

(Special thanks to Neil's excellent cardiologist, Dr. Joseph Michael Jaro, who obviously knows very well what he's doing. I would recommend him to anybody. Doc, you rock!)

It was a mere case of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT, i.e., too-fast heartrate and too-low blood pressure) so we were home the very next day.

But during that incident, I learned a few things about Philhealth that I would like to share with you today.

Question: If I have been a Philhealth member for only one month, can I use it if I get hospitalized today?

No. Alas, although I had been a Philhealth member for years, I had neglected paying my dues since I started doing freelance work. I had only been able to start paying again last month, in August, so I was not able to get Philhealth benefits for my husband, who shares my Philhealth insurance.

In order for one to get Philhealth benefits, one needs to have made at least three payments in a span of six months. Since Neil got hospitalized in September, I could have gotten Philhealth benefits if, say

• we had paid in June, July, and August; or
• March, April, May; or even
• March, May, August.

Question: Can I pay in advance?

Yes. In fact, just to be sure I never get into the same predicament again, I have already paid my dues until December. In January of 2012, I will probably pay for the whole year. (You can pay for a maximum of one year advance only. I've heard that Philhealth does not accept payment for more than 12 months advance.)

Retroactive payments are not allowed.

Question: Does my spouse still need to get his own Philhealth account, if he/she is already my dependent?

No – and yes. 

For immediate purposes, your spouse does not need a Philhealth account if he/she is listed as your dependent. You spouse will get Philhealth benefits under your account.

However, the question is, what happens if you die – or retire?

Once a Philhealth member retires at 60, he or she qualifies as a non-paying member – but only if he/she has already made at least 120 Philhealth payments. That's approximately 10 years of monthly dues.

If I retire and my spouse hasn't got those 120 Philhealth payments in his name, then I will have Philhealth benefits in my old age, when I need them most, but he won't.

There is also the question of "What if the Philhealth member dies?" Then the member's dependents will be left high and dry. You do not want that to happen to your loved ones, especially if the cost is only P100 per month.

UPDATE 1: As of June 2013, the required Philhealth contribution has been increased to P150 per month for individually paying members and P175 per month for employed members, total of employer and employee contribution.

UPDATE 2: I just found out that if you had been a member of Medicare, the government insurance program before Philhealth existed, your contributions in Medicare will be counted as part of the 120 Philhealth contributions required for you to qualify for free lifetime membership after retirement.

More questions?

I hope this post has answered some of your Philhealth questions. For more questions (or to verify what I have written here), you may call their customer service hotline at (02) 441-7442.

You can also ask some of your questions in this blog. Perhaps some of the readers – or maybe even I – can answer them.

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FREE Downloadable Printable Award-Winning (and Perfectly Legal) Children's Books!

I'm supposed to be working to make up for yesterday's lost work day, as I had to play nurse to hubby who had an attack of supraventricular tachycardia (in layman's terms: super-fast heartbeat, super-low blood pressure, very dangerous. It sent him to the ICU in 2009.)

But just as I was about to start working, my friend Rich (pilya, maganda, at may magic powers) sent me this excellent link: http://canvas.ph/downloads.htm.

Mommies (and daddies), if you haven't clicked on the link yet, do so now. It will lead you to this excellent site where you can download wonderful, downloadable, printable, and absolutely free children's books written by Filipino writers. (Tarie, are you reading this?)

What's more, the downloading and printing out are perfectly legal, authorized by the publishers themselves, God bless them!

Of course, once you've read these wonderful, award-winning stories to your kids, you might want to buy the hardback versions. They are available in Fully Booked, the Ayala Museum and at 1/of Gallery in Serendra.

Let's support Philippine literature and early literacy! And cheers to free books!

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Free Download: The Conscious Partnering Conference 2011

On May 23 to 27, there will be a FREE Conscious Partnering Conference, which will teach us all how we can create amazing relationships in all areas of our lives.

Whether you are managing your own employees in your own business, managing your boss and colleagues at your place of employment, trying to maintain an intimate relationship, or raising kids and a husband (or wife), these talks can help you.

For me, the best part about it is that registration is free! What's more, if we can't make time to join the live call, we can download the recordings afterward.

I've registered five minutes ago. If you wish to register too, you can go to http://consciouspartnering.net/.

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Free Download: The Philippine DepEd Curriculum for Second Year High School

Here's the next installment of the Department of Education's high school curriculum:  second year (sophomore) subjects:

English II
Mathematics II
Science II
Filipino II
Araling Panlipunan II
Music and Arts II
Physical Education II
Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga II

I don't have the curricula for the third year and fourth year subjects yet. Will post when I find them.

DOWNLOAD TROUBLE? We've been receiving reports that Docstoc has been requiring payments. If this happens to you, you can also download the zipped files for free HERE.

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Free Download: The Philippine DepEd Curriculum for First Year High School

Here's the new high school curriculum that the Department of Education will be using in 2011. If I am not mistaken, it is based on the Understanding by Design (UbD) curriculum framework -- a rather difficult framework, resulting in a rather complex curriculum design.

So far, I have the curricula for year 1 and year 2 subjects.

Click here to download the Philippine freshman curriculum for the following subjects:

English I
Mathematics I
Science I
Filipino I
Araling Panlipunan I
Music and Arts I
Physical Education I
Edukasyon sa Pagpapahalaga I

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Free Professional-Looking Blogger Templates

Have you ever wondered about those blogs that look like they were designed professionally? I have.

I mean, for a personal blog like the Nanay Notebook, I felt a regular template such as the one I use now is fine, but for a business blog like Escrive.com, I needed something that looked much nicer.

Well, I've finally found a place to get all those nice free Blogger templates: http://btemplates.com/!

There were so many templates to choose from, and the best part: they're all free!

How to change your template?

1. Just download the template you want, unzip the ZIP file, find the XML file within.

2. Go to your Blogger Design tab, click Edit HTML, and before you do anything else, if you have a previous template, click on Download Full Template in case you ever change your mind and want to revert to it.

3. Now to upload your new template, click on Browse, find your new template's folder, then click the XML file within. The in the same Blogger page, click Upload.

4. Preview and, if you like what you see, click Save Template.

Now go get your own professional-looking blog site!

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FREE E-book Download: How to Make Money from Your Blog

For all my readers who've been asking me how one can make money from one's blog, here's an e-book that will answer your questions much better than I can: Six Figure Affiliate Blogging by Zac Johnson.

To download it, just go to www.BloggingTips.com. A pop-up will show that will offer you a free download of the e-book. You just need to leave your name and e-mail and subscribe to the blog.

I've read it and it's chockful of useful information. I must tell you, though, that if you follow it, you'll need to do a LOT of work on your blog. If you don't have a lot of free time, you'll have to do it little by little, as I intend to do. The important thing is to start.

So what are you still here for? Go download, and happy reading.

Disclosure: This site and author are receiving no compensation or rewards for promoting this e-book. We are not affiliated with BloggingTips.com.

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Free Download: The Philippine Basic Education Curriculum for Elementary School Students

School has started for the rest of the Philippines, and while my kids and I had begun informally homeschooling last April, we weren't following a specific curriculum yet.

Well, Teacher Mommy has finally realized that while teaching spontaneously is fun, a lesson plan and a curriculum are invaluable when it comes to pacing and directing your lessons.

So I downloaded the Philippine Basic Education curriculum today for all elementary subjects. This is the curriculum used by the Department of Education. We'll be following it in our household, and I'll be supplementing it as necessary.

If any of you homeschooling moms are interested in using these curricula as well, you can download the zipped files for free HERE.
 

Looking for the NEW K-12 curriculum? Click on the link to go to our K-12 curriculum download page.

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