Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate. (davaotoday.com file photo)
DAVAO CITY, Philippines — Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate scored the economic managers of President Rodrigo Duterte for continuing what he called the US-inspired “neoliberal policies” of the Aquino administration.
Zarate criticized, in particular, National Economic Development Authority Director General Ernesto Pernia and Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno for blocking the “pro-poor” staggered P2,000 Social Security System pension hike and the moratorium on land use conversion of agricultural lands but were pushing for an increase on excise taxes of oil products as well as other mainly pro-business measures.
“These are the same neoliberal policies of the previous Aquino administration, and, it is very alarming that these are being perpetuated during the present Duterte administration,” he said.
“These mainly pro-elite and oligarchic economics run counter and anathema to the previous pro-poor and pro-people pronouncements of Pres. Duterte; they are sabotaging the president.”
Zarate said that neoliberal policies would only sustain the inequality in the country. “What these neoliberal economic managers prescribe will only help dissipate the huge political capital of Pres. Duterte and eventually isolate him from the people.”
It can be recalled that Duterte’s economic managers are claiming that the proposed SSS pension hike would unduly jack up the unfunded liabilities of the SSS to P5.9 trillion from P3.5 trillion without any accompanying SSS premium increase.
The Davao-based solon also pointed out that the policy recommendations of the Department of Finance was “far from helping the poor.”
“Those proposals are far from helping the poor. We must also point out that the proposal of these economic managers to raise the premium of the SSS to 17 percent to grant the P2,000 SSS pension hike is highly illegal based on the SSS Charter itself,” Zarate said.
He urged the SSS officials to improve its collection efficiency and reduce the bonuses and perks given to its Board members, pointing out that the P2,000 increase was practical and feasible.
“We will continue to push for an economic policy that would benefit the poor and majority of the Filipino people and counter any move that would maintain the status quo or make life harder for our people,” he said
For its part, the Social Security System said it will intensify its collection efforts and improve its collection efficiency by going after non-complying employers.
“It can’t be denied that there are employers who fail to remit the contributions of their employees or who even fail to report their employees for coverage. I am warning them, we will employ the full force of the law in going after them. Either they pay their obligations including penalties or they go to jail,” Social Security Commission Chairman Dean Amado Valdez , in a statement Monday.
As of December 2016, SSS has initiated legal actions such as issuance of demand letters and filing of cases against over 34,000 delinquent employers since 2010, bringing in almost P1.4 billion in collections to date. The efforts of SSS also resulted in a total of 38 employer convictions since 2010, with a corresponding collectible delinquency of P61.66 million.
“The SSS Commission will formulate policies and improve our monitoring systems to ensure that employers, regardless of its size, comply with their SSS obligations. We warn all erring employers to start changing their ways and start doing things right or face legal sanctions,” Valdez said. (davaotoday.com)
