"Hindi kami laban sa pagdagdag ng benepisyo, kailangan
lang po kayang tustusan o sagutin ng ating pondo," SSS president Emmanuel
Dooc said in a DZMM interview.
"Implementing another P1,000 increase in retirement
benefits would be difficult. After the first P1,000 pension hike in 2017, the
pension fund's life was reduced by 10 years," he added.
However, Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said that
in order to rationalize the power and duties of the commission, President
Duterte has to thrust for a stronger Social Security System (SSS) pension fund
by signing into law Republic Act No. 11199.
The new law has strengthened SSS charter and set hike in
premium contributions retroactively beginning this year to 12% from 11% of
salaries.
The 12 percent rate will be increased by another 1
percentage point every 2 years until year 2025 when it reaches 15 percent.
This only means that starting this year 2019, minimum wage
earners who used to contribute 440 pesos a month will now contribute 480 pesos.
Dooc said that before the law implementation, the pension
fund was expected to run out of money by 2032. The hike adjustment is expected
to extend the fund life to at least until 2038.
Furthermore, eventhough there was an increase in the
members' contribution, Dooc was still challenged to prolong the fund life.
"The increase in contribution rates would not be enough
to prolong the pension fund's life to an acceptable level which is 26 to 30
years, or until 2045," he said.
"The agency will try to deliver the promised pension
increase before Duterte's term ends in 2022, the pension increase could be
implemented in 2020 under the most "optimistic" scenario," he
added.
Meanwhile, SSS was looking for solutions by means of 'fund
growing'. Dooc said that they have been citing plans through increasing the
maximum and minimum salary ceiling for contributions, as well as improving
collections.
"Yan po ang ating nasa isip, na dapat talaga mas mapalakas
pa ang pondo," he said.
On the other hand, the sponsor of the bill increasing the
SSS pension at the House of Representatives Neri Colmenares said that the newly
signed rationalization law was unfair to contributors, by which they have to
focus on instead on increasing collection.
"Bakit kayo magse-set ng taun-taong increase in
contribution, hindi naman nag-i-increase ang inyong collection rate efficiently
taun-taon? It is unfair," Colmenares told CNN Philippines.
He added that premiums from only 15 million members were
being collected while there are 36 million SSS members.
"One percent is huge especially if you're going to
collect it for one whole year and you're going to increase it one more time
next year," he said.
The SSS, however confirmed premiums from only about 16
million of its members are being collected, saying they still need to draft
implementing rules of the new law.
