The Social Security System (SSS) has released more than P1.71 billion in unemployment benefits to 135,814 qualified members last year, amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic crisis.
Preliminary data from the pension fund showed that unemployment benefit releases last year increased nine-fold from P177.86 million in 2019. The number of claimants also increased by the same level from only 14,895 members recorded in the same year.
“The significant increase in the amount of benefit releases and the number of member-recipients in 2020 is largely attributed to the effects of COVID-19 crisis to the Philippine economy,” Aurora Ignacio, SSS president and chief executive officer, said in a statement yesterday.
“Although the initial implementation already covered involuntary separations effective March 5, 2019, or upon the approval of Republic Act 11199, also known as the Social Security Act of 2018, SSS started receiving unemployment benefit applications online last August 2019,” she also said.
The pension fund’s unemployment benefit is granted to covered employees, including house helpers and overseas Filipino workers who were involuntarily separated from employment due to economic downturn, calamity/disaster, installation of labor-saving devices; redundancy; retrenchment or downsizing; closure or cessation of operation; and disease or illness of the employee whose continued employment is prohibited by law or is prejudicial to his or her co-employees’ health.
“As more companies are retrenching and shutting down due to the pandemic, the number of affected employees is also increasing. Hence, to facilitate their applications for the said program, involuntarily separated workers should register online at the SSS website at www.sss.gov.ph to create their own My.SSS accounts for the mandatory online filing of their unemployment benefits. Almost all our processes are now online, allowing for an easier, faster, and simpler way to transact with us,” Ignacio said.
To qualify, members must not be more than 60 years old at the time of involuntary separation — except for underground and surface mineworkers, and racehorse jockeys whose age should not be more than 50 and 55 years old, respectively. They must have also paid at least 36 monthly contributions, 12 months of which should have been paid within an 18-month period before the involuntary separation. – Angela Celis
