Small employers with delinquent SSS remittances may get reprieve
| 
Subscribe: Small employers with delinquent SSS remittances may get reprieve
Small employers with delinquent SSS remittances may get reprieve
Small employers with delinquent SSS remittances may get reprieve
June 15 is SSS condonation deadline in Davao
Philippines president lauds Filipinos in Italy
To avoid the possible closure of small companies, a lawmaker has filed a bill that seeks to lessen the penalty being imposed on employers or companies that fail to pay the social security remittance of their employees on time.
Representative Nicanor Briones (AGAP Party-list) introduced House Bill 4976 to amend provisions of the Social Security Law on remittances and contributions.
Republic Act 8282, as amended, mandates employers to remit to the SSS its contribution within the first 20 days of each month for which remittances are applicable.
If the contributions are not remitted to the SSS on time, aside from the contribution, employers shall pay a penalty of one-half percent per month or six percent per annum to be reckoned from the date the contribution falls due until it is paid.
The law also provides that every employer who fails to deduct and to remit contributions shall pay a penalty of three percent per month compounded from the date the contribution falls due until it is paid.
“The penalty is equivalent to an annual penalty of 38 percent, which is onerous and burdensome to the companies experiencing heavy financial losses due to the peso devaluation, oil price hike, the pervading clouds of fiscal crisis, and other losses that many of our small companies face,” Briones said.
Likewise, the half percent penalty should not be imposed if the remittance within the quarter is done within the given quarter, he added.
Briones said his proposed measure would help particularly the security agencies that have always been the ones suffering from financial difficulties. These security agencies are the contributors and collecting arms of the SSS and not the borrowers.
He said the biggest problem of the security agencies is the delayed payment of security services by contractors especially government accounts.
The delayed payment lasts up to six months to one year and as a consequence, the security agencies have to advance the share from the salaries of their employees.
“The problem is that the SSS does not accept partial remittance of contributions. Unfortunately, however, the penalty of 36 percent per year would further aggravate the problems of these companies and these companies might close shop rather than incur heavy financial losses,” Briones explained. (PNA)
Leave a Comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Davao firms to issue warning on closures, retrenchments
September 24th, 2008 at 5:57 pm
Sept.24,2008
Let The SSS Members’ Funds Be On Safe hands
By Quirico M. Gorpido, Jr.
I have read reports that the appointment of Romulo Neri of CHed as the new SSS Chief would allegedly endanger the P248 billion SSS funds because of his “closeness” to the Arroyo Administration being a presidential appointee. The Malacañang’s statement that SSS funds won’t be touched is something doubtful. I’m suspecting that whenever there’s a presidential pressure from the current administration, for instance, instructing Neri to get the SSS funds for a certain government pro-poor programs or projects, it would be hard for him (Neri) to refuse the President. This is a great possibility to an indebted public official who held several welfare offices in the Government to do a favour for the President’s request. Unless Neri would remain adamant and not compromise his position but set aside his personal interest, and give more importance to the welfare and well-being of the SSS members.
However, we hope that the released Palace’s statement will remain true for the Arroyo’s cabinet members and the next administration that will replace the present one or the following administration after the latter. In other words, not any administration that will occupy Malacañang would dare touch the SSS funds.
As a concerned SSS member I am against any government administration that will touch or use the SSS funds for whatever purpose-political or otherwise. Strictly speaking SSS funds are private funds coming from private employees. The money should instead be wisely and constructively invested by the incumbent SSS administrator in order to grow and gain profits. With good management and supervision in investing the SSS funds in various lucrative undertakings, it will in turn provide good and better services to its members like scholarship and educational loans, housing loans, busines loans, medicare, disability benefits for the disabled, pensions and other members’ benefits.
Whoever will take the helm of SSS who is mostly a presidential appointee, the Palace assurance not to touch the SSS funds is not a surefire guarantee nor is it enough. We should avoid a repeat of what had
allegedly happened to some SSS funds during the Estrada Administration. There were reports that former President Joseph Estrada had allegedly used some of the SSS funds during his regime. How true is this? There might be some truth to this allegation, when former Senator Ramon Magsaysay, Jr. of Zambales had said he will pass a law in Congress that will prohibit any government administration or high public official from using and touching the SSS funds for a political or any kind of purpose whatsoever.
The reason behind it is simply because its private funds contributed from private employees/individuals and should not be used in any government programs, but exclusively for the use of SSS members only. Even for the GSIS funds, the prohibition not to use it in any other government program/project is also applicable. Akin to the SSS funds, the GSIS funds has also its definite objective to serve its bonafide members’ benefits and welfare.
Unfortunately, due to many new candidates vying the re-electionists Senators for the Senate seats during the last May 2004 elections, former Senator Magsaysay, Jr. has failed to occupy even the 12th position in the final
countdown of the senatorial votes.
Nevertheless, I and the rest of the SSS members are hoping that another concerned Congressman or Senator can think of what former Senator Magsaysay was planning to pass that will protect both the SSS funds and GSIS funds out of harm’s way. I also hope that a discerning freshman Representative or Senator will consider passing a bill that will become a law which will strictly protect the SSS funds and GSIS funds from any kind of government administration’s diversionary tactics to use it in any government programs. Again, private funds should remain as private funds.GSIS funds should also remain as GSIS funds and should not be diverted into supporting a government project/program including for example as “fund booster” during election campaign for any re-electionist President of the Republic.
Understandably, it is the duty and responsibility of any government administration to provide for the social needs of its people.Nonetheless, it is not to the extend of using any private funds from the contributions of private employees who should avail of their hard-earned money upon maturity. This kind of diversionary utilization of private funds, for instance, will defeat its absolute objective to serve those who are supposed to benefit from their hard-earned contributions.
Furthermore, prudence dictates that honest and transparent government spending of any kind of project/program should only vouched government funds, grants and foreign aids from financial and humanitarian institutions, but never on private SSS funds from private employees/individuals’ or GSIS funds from the members’ hard-earned contributions
Like the Philippines, I also believe that aside from the USA,other countries of the world have also some kind of social protection programs for their respective citizens similar in scope to that of the Social Security System(for private employees) and the Government Service Insurance System(for government employees).Therefore, there’s also the imperative necessity to enact laws for each concerned countries to protect and preserve their respective funds(the accumulation of membership contributions from private and government employees) who are the rightly targeted beneficiaries.
This clearly means that no President or any high-ranking public official in countries concerned should be allowed to touch/use either of the 2 aforementioned funds for any kind of government program or other purpose. (Copyright 2008 byQuirico M. Gorpido, Jr.)