SSS to distribute piggy banks to help poor save for premiums

SCREENGRAB from www.sss.gov.ph

DIGOS CITY, Philippines — More than 4,000 beneficiaries here of the government’s cash dole program are to be given a piggy banks or coin boxes to enable them to save some money to pay their monthly Social Security System dues.

Emmanuel Palma, SSS executive vice president for Southern Mindanao, said SSS personnel would distribute the coin banks to beneficiaries of the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program or 4Ps in each of the city’s 26 barangays.

“This is a program aimed at reducing the number of self-employed Filipinos who have no social security insurance,” Palma said at Monday’s launch of the “AlkanSSSya” program here.

Initially, the coin banks will be distributed to 4Ps beneficiaries in barangays San Miguel, Aplaya and Sinawilan.

“The rest of the villages will follow suit,” the city’s social welfare officer, Felomina Navidad, said.

Each 4Ps beneficiary would be given a coin bank into which he or she would deposit P12 each day for 30 days. The social security contribution for them was pegged at P360 per month.

Mayor Joseph Peñas said he believed that setting aside P12 per day would not be difficult for 4Ps beneficiaries.

“It’s less expensive than loading our cellphones,” he said during Monday’s signing of a memorandum of agreement with the SSS for that purpose.

Edgar Juanich, Digos SSS branch manager, said the program was unique one as it would make it convenient for 4Ps beneficiaries to pay their SSS dues on a daily.

“They will just drop the payment into their individual slots and the SSS will collect and credit it for them,” he said.

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