DAVAO CITY – A labor group condemned the management of the Social Security System (SSS) today for its opposition to the pension hike which was passed at the Lower House a week ago, calling the leadership of the agency insensitive to the needs of workers.
Kilusang Mayo Uno, in a statement to the press, said House Bill 5842, “will benefit almost two million pensioners, most of whom have no other means of income aside from their pension.”
The bill, authored by progressive party-list group Bayan Muna, aims to increase SSS pensioners’ monthly pension by P2,000.
“A pension hike is much-deserved by pensioners and is long overdue. There has to be a way to adjust pensions to the increasing prices of basic goods and payments for basic services,” said Roger Soluta, KMU secretary-general.
The labor leader said that the lowest monthly pension of P1,200, which will become P3,300 should the hike push through, cannot support the daily needs of a pensioner, who is supposed to have retired from working.
“What can a monthly pension of P1,200 buy? Not much, especially because of the increases in prices and service rates in previous years. This is not the best way to thank hardworking Filipinos who have supposedly retired from working,” Soluta added.
KMU also hit the SSS management’s recent statement that the institution cannot fund the increase mandated by the bill without increasing members’ monthly contributions.
“In claiming that a pension hike could only result in a contribution hike, the SSS management is pitting workers against each other. The problem lies in the mismanagement of the workers’ funds,” Soluta said.
KMU said that instead of taking away more money from the already meager incomes of workers and employees, the SSS should go after delinquent employers who fail to remit employees’ contributions, which already amounted to P94 billion in 2010.
The labor group also said that the SSS management reports an average income of P30 billion per year “which is never transferred to the government as dividends.”
“The money is there for the pension hike. There is absolutely no reason why it can’t be given, and absolutely no reason to increase members’ monthly contributions,” Soluta said.
In a separate statement, SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio S. De Quiros said they are not seeking for another increase in SSS premium “at this time”. (davaotoday.com)
