The amendments include mandatory SSS memberships for overseas Filipino workers (OFW), and less limitations on investments in the private sector. The SSS is also targeting more memberships from the informal sector such as the self-employed.
In a forum with the Capampangans in Media, Inc. here recently, SSS vice president Ma. Luisa Sebastian said the SSS is lobbying in Congress for these amendments in the SSS charter as part of the efforts to boost her agency’s financial standing following the granting of P1,000 additional pensions for its retired members.
“PhilHealth and Pag- IBIG memberships are requirements for exiting OFWs, but OFW memberships in SSS is merely voluntary,” she said. She noted, however, that of some 4.2 million OFWs, some 1.5 million are already SSS members.
Sebastian also noted that the SSS charter limits her agency from investing more in private ventures, as she noted a requirement of as much as 40 percent investments in government securities which do not yield much returns.
She also said the SSS is looking for ways to boost memberships from the informal sectors such as those self-employed.
This, even as the SSS announced yesterday separate withdrawal dates for the additional P1,000 benefits for pensioners.
In a statement, SSS president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Dooc said the SSS “had to run a special program for about 10 percent of its pensioners who are not regularly receiving their monthly pension as of the approval of the P1,000 additional benefit on Jan. 10, since their pension computation varies depending on the nature of their pension status.”
“We had to do system adjustments for these special cases to make sure that everybody will receive the additional benefit either on March 31, May 12 or May 26,” he said.
Dooc said only about 10 percent or more than 242,000 of the 2.2 million SSS pensioners will receive the additional benefit on the said dates.
“Among the pensioners who will receive the benefit on March 31 are those under the Special Pension System which includes death claim with more than one payee and one of them is overpaid; payees with withheld share; and those covered by a Bilateral Social Security Agreement between the Philippines and other countries and the Portability Law,” he explained.
Dooc stressed, however, that “for the death benefit with multiple payees, we will not give P1,000 for each of the payee; rather, the P1,000 additional benefit will be shared equally among them.”
“Likewise, pensioners on suspended status due to non-compliance with the Annual Confirmation of Pensioners but are up for resumption from January to March are scheduled to receive the additional benefit on March 31, provided they have already reported to SSS for the resumption of their monthly pension” the SSS statement also said.
It also said that “retiree- pensioners who availed themselves of the advance 18 months retirement pension from August, 2015 onwards will receive the P1,000 additional benefit on May 12 to cover the remaining months starting January 2017.”
