The facade of the Social Security System (SSS) main office in Quezon City. FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines — The pension loans that the Social Security System (SSS) released in 2022 reached P5.95 billion, the agency said on Tuesday.
According to SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Rolando Ledesma Macasaet, the pension loans released last year are almost double the P3.08 billion recorded in 2021 and the highest disbursement for Pension Loan Program (PLP) since it started in 2018
“From January to December 2022, the SSS has disbursed a monthly average of P495.77 million pension loans benefitting 10,660 retiree-pensioners, which is 93 percent higher than its corresponding monthly average in 2021 of P257.01 million to 5,753 retiree-pensioners,” said Macasaet.
“We are delighted that we have assisted many of our retiree-pensioners with their short-term and immediate financial needs. We also prevent them from becoming victims of private lending institutions that charge high-interest rates and require them to surrender their ATM cards as collateral,” he added.
Macasaet also noted the growth in PLP applicants following the government’s steps to ease COVID-19 quarantine restrictions nationwide.
“Our records show that a total of 127,920 retiree-pensioners availed from the PLP in 2022, which is 85 percent higher than the 69,036 retiree-pensioners who availed of the program in 2021,” he explained.
Based on the SSS records, Luzon recorded the highest number of applicants with 30,158 retiree-pensioners (amounting to almost P1.39 billion pension loans); followed by the National Capital Region with 28,239 borrowers (P1.43 billion); Visayas with 17,038 loan applicants (P740 million); and Mindanao with 12,917 borrowers (P590 million).
On the other hand, online applications through the My.SSS portal reached 39,568, which amounts to P1.8 billion.
Macasaet explained that the SSS launched PLP to help its pensioners with their financial needs by offering them a loan program with a low-interest rate of 10 percent per annum. He added that the program also provides borrowers installment payments ranging from six to 24 months.
“We also ensure that the pensioners will still have a net take-home pension of at least 47.25% of their monthly pensions,” he said.
“Qualified retiree-pensioners can avail themselves of a loan equivalent to three, six, nine, or 12 times their basic monthly pension plus the P1,000 additional benefit granted in 2017, but not exceeding P200,000,” he added.
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