INCREASING SSS MEMBER CONTRIBUTIONS NOT THE IMMEDIATE REMEDY TO PENSION FUND PROBLEMS -- KABAYAN
September 13, 2001

You cannot increase the regular worker's SSS contributions without sufficient and convincing justification therefor.

This is the opinion of Sen. Noli "Kabayan" De Castro, chairman of Senate committee on Social Justice, with regard to the Social Security System's plan to hike member contributions.

It was reported that SSS shall start dipping into its reserves six years from now, in 2008, and funds will be drained by 2015, as claimed by SSS President and CEO Corazon de la Paz.

De Castro said that since SSS has two sources of revenues, that of contributions and investments, the solution to its current financial difficulties must come from the latter and not from the contributions, considering the present situation of the workforce.

He questioned the motive of the government financial institution in demanding an increase in our lowly workers' monthly contributions in view of the reported losses, which were said to be a result of blatant mismanagement and alleged anomalies.

Before resorting to the workers to save SSS from its current financial crisis, why not make those who are behind the bad investments be held liable for the incurred losses? Try to deal with this problem with the right managerial decisions. At ang pagtaas ng kontribusyon ng mga kaawa-awang manggagawa ay hindi nararapat na hakbang sa paglutas ng problemang ito.

De Castro further noted that the problem of poor compliance by SSS members should also be addressed, as this could be a viable solution to its financial trouble. From the 24 million members, only 8 million are actually contributing to the fund.

If SSS will only be able to collect from the other two-thirds of the SSS members, probably they would not be calling for an increase. Exhaust first all the available remedies before passing the weight on the workers.

With reports of anomalies and bad investments by SSS officials, De Castro thinks that a Senate investigation is proper, not only to get to the bottom of these allegations but moreso to come up with a more efficient policy for the administration and management of the pension fund.

De Castro noted that SSS should be mindful of the fact that workers' salaries have not been increased and therefore their SSS charges should remain proportional to their pay.

It is a reality that an ordinary Filipino laborer, whenever payday comes, is burdened with the problem of how to survive with his meager income. Bawat piso ay may paggagamitan. Paano ito magkakasya sa kanyang pamilya at mga personal na gastusin kung muli pang babawasan ng SSS?

As long as this reality remains unresolved by the government, De Castro pointed out that one way we could alleviate the poor worker's plight is not to strain them with unnecessary fees but to grant them additional incentives and concessions.

Huwag natin patayin ang sektor ng manggagawa bagkus ay tulungan natin sila.

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