Duterte OKs P1,000 SSS pension hike

President Rodrigo Duterte. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

President Rodrigo Duterte has approved a P1,000 increase in the pension of retired Social Security System (SSS) members this month.

Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella confirmed the news in a Palace briefing on Tuesday.

“Regarding the SSS pension increase, the President has approved a P1,000 pension increase this month,” Abella said.

He said the President wanted to “fulfill a social contract with the Filipino people.”

“He seeks to fulfill a social contract with the Filipino people, especially the elderly and the poor, to give them their best lives in service,” Abella said.

“While exercising fiscal responsibility, to ensure the economic sustainability and protect those who invested in the nation’s future,” he added.

But the Palace official said members would have “a corresponding 1.5 percent contribution rate hike in May 2017 and increase in monthly salary credit to P20,000 based from P16,000.”

“To ensure sustainability, SSS is setting in place, one: legal action plans to reduce contribution delinquency. For example, intensify legal collection and referred delinquent and non-compliant employers,” he said.

Duterte approved the hike amid calls for him to sign the proposal for a P2,000 increase in the pension of SSS retirees.

P2,000 hike by 2022

SSS chair Amado Valdez said the first P1,000 increase would take effect this January while the second P1,000 increase would be in 2022 or even earlier “subject to conditionalities.”

Valdez thanked the President for his “sense of caring for our pensioners.”

“We want to thank profusely our President for his sense of caring for our pensioners. We also want to thank the economic managers for their prudence in reminding us we have to ensure the sustainability of the fund. In doing so, the lifespan of the fund will even pass the threshold of 2042 and perhaps beyond,” he said.

SSS President Emmanuel Dooc, meanwhile, said the agency has enough funds to support the pension hike this month.

“This will take effect this month, if I’m not mistaken, but maybe due to some system requirement because we need a recomputation, we need to prepare a table, there may be a slight delay,” Dooc said.

The SSS President said the SSS contribution hike would now be at 12. 5 percent starting May, from the current 11 percent.

“We will increase it by 12.5% as proposed by the commission. We want to implement it by May this year,” he said. JE/rga