Senatorial aspirant and Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares is hopeful that the Congress will override the veto of President Benigno Aquino III on the P2, 000 pension increase of Social Security System (SSS) members.
“Were still hoping na makakuha kami ng (that we can get) numbers,” Colmenares told reporters in an in interview in Quezon City on Saturday.
The progressive solon said an override is the only way to reverse Aquino’s decision. A veto override requires a two-thirds vote of both the Senate and the House of Representative, voting separately.
“Ang panawagan naman sa ngayon ay override. At sana naman sa mga kasamahan natin sa Kongreso ay tindigan natin yung batas na pinasa natin,” Colmenares said.
(What we are calling for now is an override. And we hope that our comrades in the Congress would stand by the bill that we passed.)
He said he would file the motion to override during the plenary session at the House of Representatives.
He disputed the claims of SSS that the agency would go bankrupt if the P2, 000 pension increase was approved.
READ: Aquino explains veto: SSS viability in danger
“Hindi totoo na maba-bankrupt ang SSS dahil dito kasi maraming sources of fund na pwedeng pagkukunan para P2, 000 increase,” he said, citing the position of the both chambers of Congress were reasonable when it passed the bill.
(It is not true that the SSS would be bankrupt because of this because it has many sources to fund the P2,000 increase.)
Abkada Rep. Jonathan Dela Cruz said SSS executives and officials of the Department of Finance (DOF) have been invited to the hearings in Congress.
“They were given all the opportunity (to explain),” Dela Cruz said.
Meanwhile, Abkada Rep. Jonathan Dela Cruz called the SSS executives “insensitive” for their lavish bonuses and retirement packages while members are getting a meager amount.
“They have been very negligent as far as their duties are concerned in so far as collection is concerned and in so far as making sure that their investments are proper and responsible,” he said.
READ: SSS head calls grant of P1M bonus to each executive ‘moral’
On January 12, Aquino vetoed House Bill No. 5842, which grants a P2,000 pension hike for SSS members.
He defended such move by saying that the stability of the 31 million SSS members would be “seriously compromised” in favor of two million pensioners and their dependents. CDG
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