After this year’s almost uneventful Undas, we immediately started our countdown to Christmas 2016, which is turning out to be much more exciting compared to those of yesteryears.
Thus, even if it is still 44 days away, we’ll start preparing to celebrate it as soon as we receive our yearend bonuses next week to cap this very memorable year.
Certain events have taken place this year and although they couldn’t be counted yet as truly good tidings for this Christmas, they are surely very unique and significant.
Undeniably, the most special of these events is the election to the presidency last May 9 of the mayor from Davao City, which served as precedent to all others including those that happened this week.
Last Sunday, our 37-year-old national treasure and people’s champ Manny Pacquiao became again the WBO welterweight champion by beating, via a unanimous decision, his much younger 27-year- old Mexican-American opponent. Now a senator, would this victory pave the way for him to aspire for the highest elected position in government?
Then on Tuesday, our Supreme Court released its 9-5 ruling to allow the burial of former President Ferdinand Marcos at the Libingan ng mga Bayani. Would this lead to the healing of our nation?
Finally last Wednesday, the 70-year-old controversial Donald Trump won the presidency of the world’s most powerful nation. As his stunning victory was being met by street protests, could he really be a “president for all Americans” as he had immediately pledged?
But for us pensioners of the Social Security System, the more relevant countdown is the number of days after President Digong has assumed office that SSS continues to deny us our much-awaited P2,000 pension increase.
Our countdown has reached 134 days and would be 178 days by Christmas Day.
We have also been counting the number of days after April 30 that SSS has continued to fail to submit its 2015 annual report to Pres. Digong and Congress. It’s now 196 days and SSS has not even published the report in its website.
SSS has instead published a summary of operations for the first semester of 2016, showing that it paid an average monthly pension of P 3,229 and has accumulated P474.7 billion in total assets as of June 30.
Why should this report be submitted? It is where SSS could disclose the financial impact of restoring the “missing contributions” of 1985-1989 and present its contribution collection, investments, benefit disbursements, and operational efficiency in 2015.
It is not enough for SSS to disclose how dismally unable it is in granting the P2,000 pension increase. It should also propose on how to provide for it.
In fact, the Social Security Act requires SSS to submit “a public report to the President of the Philippines and to the Congress of the Philippines covering its activities in the administration and enforcement of this Act during the preceding year including information and recommendations on broad policies for the development and perfection of the program of the SSS.”
Why is SSS ignoring its reportorial obligation? It neither complies with Pres. Digong’s executive order on the freedom of information.
The Government Service Insurance System and PhilHealth, in contrast, have published their 2015 financial statements, both of which have been audited by the Commission on Audit.
Unfortunately, they showed alarming financial results in 2015 without giving any prospect of improvements in 2016 and beyond.
GSIS had only P140.1 billion in gross incomes compared to P230.9 billion in 2014. Noticeably, its financial assets had lost P1.9 billion compared to making a gain of P124.7 billion last year.
While GSIS collected P89.9 billion in premiums, it spent P85.9 billion in benefit claims, P3.7 billion in personnel expenses, and P2.0 billion in operating expenses. Only its incomes from salary loans and property investments enabled it to realize a positive net income of P46.9 billion. This is much lower than its P140.3 billion net income in 2014.
GSIS ended 2015 with a total net worth of P933.7 billion, which should have reached P1 trillion had it sustained its previous year’s investment performance.
PhilHealth confirmed its worrisome 2015 financial performance that it underplayed in its disclosure earlier this year.
It collected premium contributions of P99.6 billion but these were not enough to support its benefit payments of P97.0 billion, personnel expenses of P3.6 billion, and other operating expenses ofP2.0 billion.
Thanks to its P7.0 billion in interest income, PhilHealth still managed to eke out a net income of P3.9 billion and to raise slightly its net worth to P131.8 billion by yearend.
These precarious financial performances of GSIS and PhilHealth both demand the conduct of actuarial studies on their programs’ financial viability and actuarial life.
Like SSS, they must also disclose their programs’ actuarial life. For all we know, we may now have to start our countdowns on when they would become bankrupt, with or without any benefit increase.
Of course, we should also start our countdown to the bankruptcy of SSS in 2029 if it is compelled through legislation to pay the P2,000 pension increase even without the necessary authority to reform its funding system.
