P1,000 SSS pension increase available starting Friday, March 3

The state-run Social Security System (SSS) on Thursday announced that pensioners would be able to receive the approved additional P1,000 in their pension starting Friday, March 3.

In a statement, SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Dooc said the agency already released some P2 billion to its pensioners for the month of January 2017 as part of the increase.

“We are pleased to announce to our pensioners that the P1,000 additional benefit is now ready for withdrawal in their respective bank accounts while the remaining retroactive amount will be received in the next two Fridays of March (10 and 17).” Dooc said.

“The SSS will continue to find ways to make our pension fund viable so it can continuously serve its current and future members in perpetuity,” he added.

In January, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the across-the-board P1,000 increase in the monthly pension of some 2.2 million SSS retirees. The order authorizing the released was signed last Feb. 22.

READ: P1,000 hike in SSS pension approved

The raise, however, was made on the condition that the SSS would raise by 1.5 percentage points the monthly premiums of active members, increasing their monthly contributions to 12.5 percent of their monthly salary credit.

READ: No contribution increase, no SSS pension hike

SSS said more than P2.04 billion were already deposited in the pensioners’ bank accounts which are ready for withdrawal on the said date.

Around P6.9 billion is allotted for the release of the additional P1,000 benefit for the first quarter alone, on top of the P7.4 billion released per month since January 2017 for regular benefits, SSS said. IDL/rga