Is it Social Security System or Social Insecurity System? Pardon the sarcasm but the more information is made available about the SSS, the more insecure people feel about its (mis)management and (in)capacity to sustain services to the fund’s members-owners.
Thanks to President Noynoy Aquino’s veto of the bill increasing SSS members’ monthly pension by P2,000.00, the SSS has come under close scrutiny of the public.
To begin, let me say that the veto is not without merit. That the SSS will go bankrupt in so and so number of years is something we have heard many times in the past.
In our many years of advocacy for the passage of the Magna Carta of Workers in the Informal Economy, a bill that provides for the rights and welfare of the majority of workers who are poor and not covered by labor legislations, we have always been told by the SSS that it could not afford what the bill requires of it. SSS officials have told us time and again that the fund will dissipate fast if it does.
Initially, MACWIE wanted informal workers to be members of SSS without paying the employer’s share. Under the present scheme, workers in the informal economy (WIE) can enroll as self-employed. However, they pay double because they pay both the employee and employer’s contributions. This is okay with entrepreneurs but what about the ordinary tricycle or jeepney drivers, ambulant market vendors, home-based workers, waste-pickers, on-call laundry women and yayas? They definitely cannot afford to pay double. The big bulk of WIE does not have employers and among the poorest of workers. Thus, they cannot become self-employed members of the SSS.
The mandate of SSS is for universal coverage of workers. This cannot be fulfilled without the 25-million workers in the informal economy.
MACWIE’s solution is for government to come in and shoulder the employers’ counterpart as far as WIE membership is concerned. The bill has identified several agencies as sources of funds. These workers are not asking for a free ride. They are willing to pay BUT they cannot afford to pay double what an ordinary employed worker pays.
This is a matter of social justice. Yet, MACWIE remains pending in Congress despite the fact that it’s been there for four.
In the same vein, increasing the pension of retired SSS members is also a matter of social justice. While I said that there is merit to PNoy’s veto of the pension increase bill, it is government’s responsibility to make sure that retirees receive a kind of pension that is equitable and just. Several things could have been done that could have saved the bill from being vetoed and Malacañang is not without fault here.
Legislative and policy advocacy is my game. My group has been at this for almost three decades so we know a thing or two about our legislative process.
All bills that become laws are negotiated laws. Meaning, bills go through a lot of haggling before they get passed. Legislators we work with always tell us that there is no perfect law because of the negotiations involved in the process.
All relevant government agencies as well as non-government groups are heard during committee meetings that deliberate bills. It is virtually impossible that the SSS was not involved in this particular bill. Surely, its officials were heard during discussions because the bill is about its program.
We are told that the bill in question started with a P5,000.00 monthly increase. That the figure was decreased to P2,000.00 is proof that the bill underwent negotiations. So, what happened?
It is common knowledge that no bill passes without the imprimatur of the Executive Department. Sadly, this is true. Remember that we have a very largely Malacañang-controlled Congress. That the bill passed by an overwhelming majority in both the Belmonte-led House and Drilon-led Senate could only mean that the Palace agreed with its passage. If the bill was not acceptable, Malacañang’s allies could have easily blocked its passage. Perhaps, someone was sleeping on the job.
There could not have been any shortage of opportunities for negotiations. My hunch is that the Executive gave its yes and belatedly realized the difficulties in the implementation. If this is the case, this is irresponsible. If the President really had to veto it, he should have provided alternatives at the outset. But this did not happen so he appeared uncaring.
Something good happened, nonetheless. Because people got angry, the SSS has been put under the microscope. Now we know that its officials receive millions in salaries and benefits while the fund’s retired owners are given alms. SSS Commissioners receive an average of about four million pesos (P4,000,000.00) a year but a retired member gets thirty thousand (P30,000.00) a year. Anyway one looks at this, this is unjust. How does one live on a measly P2,500.00 a month? One cannot.
Some say that we should pay SSS officials to get the best managers for the fund. I do not argue with this but do we have the best? If this is so, then they should have been able to significantly increase its collections from the present 40 percent. News have it that the SSS presently has a P325-BILLION uncollected revenue. This is a lot of money that should benefit members.
If we have the best, they should have realized that it has invested precious members’ money in unprofitable investments that now lay idle. The Commission on Audit’s 2014 annual report and part of 2015 report indicated that the SSS own properties valued at almost P18 BILLION. Such properties include 102 condominium units, 44,000 square meters of office space, 16 residential houses, 663 units of memorial lots, and 69 parking lots. All of these assets are idle and incur costs to maintain apart from the fact that rental opportunities worth hundreds of millions of pesos are lost.
Yet, the SSS cannot even provide members with decent benefits.
The vetoed bill should lead us to revamp the SSS. Revisit its mandate, systems, and manner of doing things. SSS money belongs to its members. It should redound to their welfare.
The social insecurity must stop.
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