The Social Security System (SSS) achieves 2.2 million new members in the first six months of 2024, the head of the pension fund said during the press conference on Tuesday, July 30, at the Oriental Hotel, Legazpi City.
Rolando Macasaet, the president and chief executive officer of SSS, hoped that the social insurance program would get four to five million new members by the end of this year. With the 2.2 million members constituting roughly around 40 percent to 42 percent of the whole of the population, adding 1 billion pesos in incremental contributions to the organization made up the unexpected growth of development from the initial total of 1 million members before the start of the year 2024.
“It is strategically important for SSS to have more members, also maraming bata ang Pilipinas, so nagbabayad po sila sa sistema para yung mga pensioners po sigurado nila matatanggap pension nila,” Macasaet said.
Macasaet added that a proper balance of ratios must be maintained between workers and pensioners when it comes to the membership of the SSS. Members are allowed in the inconsistency of their payment as long as they settle their required payment of 120 months.
Membership loan
For a member to apply for a loan, a prerequisite for this would be the completion of 36 monthly payments, which should be within the last 12 months, with a maximum of 20 thousand pesos for a monthly loan and a minimum of 4 thousand pesos for those contributing 570 pesos as voluntary members.
Macasaet said that members may opt for “pension booster,” allowing them to increase their contribution with a minimum of 500 pesos.
Bicol Region has a total of 3,988 pensioners, 348,104 members, and was able to register 3,996 job order (JO) workers this year, with 134 employers that are subject to Relief Afforded to Challenge Employers.
Memorandum of Agreement
Furthermore, 201 local government units (LGUs), including the barangay level and 39 national government agencies (NGAs), in Bicol have already signed a Memorandum of Agreement with SSS, collecting up to 32 million pesos within this coverage of the Bicol Region.
Currently, SSS prioritizes individuals who are most likely to register and can be active to their fullest extent. The majority of casual workers, including barangay officials, are not members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) nor the SSS. In response, the SSS went around the nation in the hopes of LGUs signing the Memorandum of Agreement (MOA).
So far, the SSS signed a MOA with the Land Transportation Office Region V on the “KaSSSanga Collect Program,” which provides social security coverage to JO and contract of service (COS) workers who are serving LGUs, NGAs, state colleges and universities, and local water districts and are not covered by GSIS because of their employment status.
The SSS also signed a MOA with the Sincere Women Admire Responsible Men Association (SWARM) on the “AlkanSSSya Program,” a micro-savings program for informal economy workers.
The city government of Legazpi also signed a MOA with the SSS on the “E-Center sa LGU,” an establishment of localized SSS e-centers in the barangay halls or corporate offices to enable the LGU personnel to assist people in their respective communities in accessing the online service of SSS conveniently from the comfort of their areas, thereby reducing the need to physically visit SSS offices. I Nico Jaymalin, Thea Salazar