Labor groups join call to halt SSS premium hike
MANILA, Philippines — Labor groups have joined the mounting calls for the Social Security System (SSS) to temporarily suspend the mandated increase in the contribution of its members this year and prioritize instead their well-being as they called on the government to fulfill its obligation to contribute to the SSS fund under the law—a mandate it has failed to do for the past 70 years.
In the Senate, Sen. Aquilino Pimentel III demanded transparency in the grant of incentives and other perks to the executives of the state-run pension fund in the wake of the impending hike in premium payments.
The SSS had been criticized for approving the release of millions of pesos in bonuses to reward its board members’ supposed “good performance.”
READ: COA: SSS fails to collect P89B worth of contributions in 2023
“SSS should be fully transparent on the bonuses that they give to their bigwigs,” Pimentel said in a Viber message.
“The performance of the board as well as the funds must be audited, assessed, and judged by the members themselves,” he noted.
Article continues after this advertisement‘Inappropriate’
According to the Nagkaisa Labor Coalition, the biggest alliance of labor groups and workers organizations in the country, the timing of the increase in SSS members’ contributions was “inappropriate,” given that Congress failed to pass legislation increasing the minimum wage of workers in the private sector.
Article continues after this advertisement“The deferment of the premium hike is a practical and compassionate response to the current economic reality faced by workers,” Nagkaisa said in a statement.
For Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa, the premium increase was “ill-timed” and “unjust.”
“Inflation continues to surge, driving up the prices of basic commodities and utilities. Wages have remained stagnant as our calls for a national minimum wage increase have been ignored,” it noted.
Nagkaisa stressed that the Social Security Commission, chaired by Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, has the authority under the Social Security Act of 2018 (Republic Act No. 11199) to suspend or defer contribution adjustments based on prevailing economic conditions.
The law mandates the SSS to increase its members’ contribution rate every two years, with the final 15-percent increase to take effect starting Jan. 1 this year.
Industry and labor groups, among them the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the Makati Business Club, the Management Association of the Philippines, the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines, and the Federation of Free Workers, had protested the scheduled hike in SSS premiums.
The coalition also stressed the need for the government to fulfill its legal obligation to contribute to the SSS fund.
Under Section 20 of RA 11199, Congress is directed to annually appropriate funds to meet the estimated expenses of the SSS for each ensuing year and provide funding “from time to time” to ensure the SSS’ financial sustainability, based on actuarial studies.
According to Nagkaisa, the government’s first and only contribution to the SSS fund was in 1957, amounting to P500,000, and has not made any more contributions since then.
