TWO lawmakers from the House of Representatives have filed separate resolutions pushing the deferment of the increase in premium contributions to the Social Security Systems (SSS).
SSS is set to implement its final increase in the monthly contribution of members starting this month pursuant to Republic Act (RA) 11199, or the Social Security Act of 2018, which mandates the state-run pension to increase its contribution rate every two years.
In filing House Resolution No. 2156, Rep. Wilbert Lee (PL, Agri) not only urged President Marcos Jr. to suspend the premium hike but also asked the House leadership to direct the appropriate committee to look into the “responsiveness of SSS benefits to the needs of its contributors and conduct an initial audit and evaluation of the financial performance of the corporation with the end in view of amending existing laws.”
“While the premium increase aims to ensure the sustainability and financial viability of the SSS, it is crucial to evaluate the timeliness of the premium hikes and determine whether it remains responsive to the changing economic conditions of the country and the needs of its contributors,” the resolution said.
“The suspension of the premium hike will provide an opportunity to assess the financial sustainability of the SSS while allowing the government to explore alternative ways to improve the system’s financial health without placing additional burdens on the already taxed workforce,” it added.
On the other hand, Baguio City Rep. Mark Go urged the SSS to defer the implementation of the scheduled hike in contributions “to ease the burden on Filipinos amid rising costs due to inflation,” which he noted rose to 2.9 per cent in December from 2.5 percent in November.
In his HR No. 2157, Go said the Social Security Commission should strongly consider the deferral of the hike “to provide our low-income earners a breathing space from the continued rising cost of commodities and services.”
He also pointed out that SSS’ revenues grew in 2023 by 15.6 per cent, from P353.82 billion to P306.16 billion in the previous year.
He added that the state insurer likewise earned a net income of P83.13 billion in 2023, exceeding its target of P51.06 billion for that year.
Thus, Go stressed, “the SSS can afford and manage to suspend the increase in contributions.”
Rizal Rep. Fidel Nograles, chair of House Committee on Labor and Employment, also appealed to the President to suspend the hike in SSS premium contributions “to protect workers from being further burdened with the lessening of their take-home pay.”
“Nananawagan tayo kay Pangulong Marcos na isuspinde na muna ang rate increase. Sa kabila ng mas mahal na cost of living na dinaranas ng mga kababayan natin sa kasalukuyan, malaking dagok ang dagdag na singil na ito dahil mababawasan pa lalo ang kapasidad nilang sustentuhan ang kanilang mga pamilya (We are appealing to the President to suspend the rate increase. In the face of the rising cost of living, this will be a huge blow to the people’s capacity to provide a decent living to their families),” he said.
If a deferment will not lead to a “significant dent” to the SSS’ funds, Nograles said “perhaps it is more judicious to choose compassion and empathy for our fellow Filipinos instead of implementing the contribution hike right this year. Maybe we can do a gradual increase so that the Filipino worker can cope much better.”
FISCAL PERFORMANCE
Go said that instead of collecting higher premiums, the SSS should improve its financial performance, as he cited a Commission on Audit (COA) report revealing the agency’s inefficiency in the collection of premium contributions from delinquent employers, with only P4.581 billion collected – or 4.89 per cent of expected collections in 2023 worth P93.747 billion.
“This is equivalent to P89.17 billion of uncollected premium contributions from 420,627 employers,” Go said, adding that the SSS’ inefficiency in collecting premium contributions based on the COA report “should first be addressed before the government insurance agency proceeds to implement the schedule of contribution rate hike.”
Nograles called on the President to order the SSS to ensure that its collection is more efficient and effective before any rate hike. “The SSS should address systemic bottlenecks and gaps first to ensure that our collection efforts are maximized,” he said.
Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian urged the Senate Committee on Banks and Financial Institutions to investigate SSS’ P89.17 billion uncollected debts.
During the “Kapihan sa Senado” media forum, Gatchalian said the upper chamber should exercise its oversight function and call on SSS officials to explain their “apparent mismanagement problem.”
“(We can exercise our) oversight (function). Dapat papuntahin dito ang SSS at panagutin, at explain kung bakit may utang sa kanila ‘yung, I would assume, mga estblishments ‘yan, at hindi nila kinokolekta. Lumobo ito eh. So, ano ang gagawin nila para makolekta yan? (We can exercise our oversight function. SSS [officials] should be invited here [in the Senate] to explain why there have uncollected debts, I would assume, from establishments. These debts have ballooned. What is the SSS doing to collect these?),” he asked.
Gatchalian said if the billions of pesos in unremitted members contributions have been collected, the agency could have done away with the premium hike.
“We have to look at it holistically, hindi lang yung pagtaas ng premium. Magbigay (din) ng dagdag na benepisyo, then tignan din natin ‘yung mga kakulangan nila… (yun mga) hindi na ginagawa ng management, katulad ng pag-kolekta ng utang (We have to look at it holistically, not only the increase in premiums. [It should also give] additional benefits to its members. We will also focus on the things that the management is not doing, like collecting debts),” he said.
Gatchalian likewise wants the SSS to report where the state insurer has been investing the members premiums that it has been collecting.
“In theory kasi pag ang pension, pag nagbigay ka, yung investment na binibigay mo o yung pera na binigay mo, ilalagay sa investment para yung investment ang kikita at siya rin ang magbabayad ng iba pang benepisyo. Self-sustaining ang tawag diyan. So, may mga ganoong na anggulo rin na dapat tignan. Dapat may transparency rin
(In theory, when you contribute, the management of the pension funds will invest the money so its earnings can cover the members’ benefits. That is what we call self-sustaining. So, that is one of the angles we will look into. There should be transparency),” he said.
“I don’t want to jump the gun but definitely, yung P93 billion na utang, isang senyales na ‘yan na may mismanagement problem at dapat makolekta yung P93 billion (I don’t want to jump the gun but definitely, the P93 billion uncollected debt is a sign that there is a mismanagement problem, and that P93 billion should be collected),” he also said.
He said another issue they will look into is the low monthly SSS pension rates, which he said has been the subject of complaints received by his office.
SSS only gives a monthly pension of less than P20,000, an amount which Gatchalian said is way too low as compared to the pension received by government employees, which is around 80 percent of their salary at the time of their retirement. – With Raymond Africa
