MALACAÑANG on Thursday defended its decision to raise the premiums of Social Security System members amid a backlash from employers’ groups and senators.
“The President has carefully weighed both sides to solve the SSS impasse and he has already made a decision,” Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said in a statement.
Andanar insisted that the increase in the SSS pension effective this quarter will be financed by current contributions and investment income.
“The planned 1.5-percent increase in contributions in May 2017 will be used to improve the Investment Reserve Fund in order to generate higher yields for investments, and to further strengthen the overall viability of the pension fund so it can meet future obligations,” he said.
Under the existing setup, SSS members pay 11 percent of their monthly salary as premiums, with employers covering 7.37 percent and employees, 3.63 percent.
To cover a P1,000 increase in monthly pensions granted by President Rodrigo Duterte, the SSS wants to increase premiums by 1.5 percent every year until it reaches 17 percent of a member’s compensation, to be shared by the employer and the employee.
While welcoming the P1,000 Social Security System pension hike, the youth group Anakbayan opposed the 1.5 percent increase in SSS premiums.
The group also called for the immediate implementation of the P2,000 pension hike, instead of the government plan to release the second tranche of P1,000 in 2022.
The labor group Bukluran ng Manggagawang Pilipino on Thursday expressed dissatisfaction over the P1,000 increase in monthly pensions for 2.2 million retirees ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday.
BMP said this was not only short of the amount Duterte promised, but also “clearly insufficient to cover even the barest nutritional and medical needs of pensioners.”
But former Speaker and Quezon City Rep. Feliciano Belmonte Jr. on Thursday lauded Duterte for granting the P1,000 increase in pensions, saying it was a “doable” compromise.
“President Duterte certainly acted in the interest of people who despite having been employed and retired, still found it hard to make both ends meet,” Belmonte said. With Sandy Araneta, Maricel V. Cruz
