The Social Security System (SSS) Building on East Avenue, Quezon City. INQUIRER file photo / RAFFY LERMA
The Social Security System (SSS) had failed to collect over P92 billion from nearly half a million delinquent employers in 2022, the Commission on Audit (COA) said in a report released Wednesday.
According to state auditors, 466,881 employers did not remit P92.49 billion in premium contributions, penalties and damages last year.
Of that total, P59.7 billion was not collected from 137,335 employers in Metro Manila, while P16.35 billion was not collected from 184,981 employers in the rest of Luzon.
The COA said further that P5.5 billion was not remitted by 73,568 employers in the Visayas, while P4.4 billion had been uncollected from 65,012 employers in Mindanao.
State auditors also included in their report the Account Management Group-Large Account Division of the SSS, which had P6.5 billion worth of collectibles yet to be remitted by 5,985 employers.
The COA said the SSS had a low collection efficiency of 2.34 percent, with Metro Manila having the lowest collection rate of 0.59 percent.
‘Much-needed funds’
The agency said further that the state-managed pension fund had P83.82 billion, or 90.63 percent, of its net receivables uncollected in the last five years.
The audit report also showed that a total of 10,989 cases, involving P5.39 billion in receivables, had been filed, but only 4,530 of these cases remain active and pending—while the rest had been languishing either in the courts or in the Social Security Commission, the supervisory body of the SSS.
The unremitted amounts “deprive … the SSS of much-needed funds for the prompt delivery of social security protection, claims and benefits to its members and beneficiaries,” the COA said.
The agency cited in its report the Social Security Act of 2018, which states that the right of a covered employee to SSS benefits is not prejudiced by the employer’s failure or refusal to pay or remit the prescribed contributions.
Closer look
“Hence, the SSS is still bound to pay members benefits corresponding to the uncollected premium contributions, which may negatively affect the reserves of the SSS,” the COA said.
In response, the SSS told state auditors it will take a closer look into delinquent employers.
“[T]he concerned groups/offices will continue to monitor and review the status and intensify collection efforts, as recommended,” the SSS management told the COA.
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