PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III is not keen on signing into law House Bill No. 5842 which grants a P2,000 across-the-board increase in the monthly pensions of Social Security System members.
Although HB5842 has been approved by both houses of Congress and has been sitting on Aquino’s desk since last month, Presidential Communication Undersecretary Manuel Quezon III said the government should study it further.
“We all want to increase the pension that we will receive from the dues we pay to the SSS, but we are not alone,” Quezon said in a radio interview.
“We also need to think about those individuals down the road. So we are still studying it. Maybe we can hope that some sort of compromise will be reached. But at this point, there is no information yet on where and what will happen on the part of the President,” Quezon said.
The bill was passed on third reading by the House of Representatives June 9 last year and was adopted by the Senate Nov. 9. It was transmitted to Malacañang for Aquino’s signature mid-December, but there has been no word on Aquino’s next moves.
Aquino has 30 days, or up to the middle of March, to sign the bill into law and if it remains unacted upon, it automatically becomes a law. But Aquino can also veto the bill and Congress will have to override the veto via a two-thirds majority.
Speaker Feliciano Belmonte had earlier said Aquino wants a twin bill passed that would amend the SSS charter to “give some leeway” to its board of directors to adjust the contribution of its members, among other things.
The House of Representatives has approved the bill, but the Senate has yet to act on it.
Quezon said the Palace was concerned that increasing the benefits to members would shorten the life of the SSS.
“Let’s wait. Time has not run out yet and we really need to think about this seriously because we need to balace the interests of our countryment now and in the future,” he said.
Once enacted into law, the minimum monthly pension will increase to P3,200 from the current P1,200 for SSS member with at least 10 credited years of services.