LAST weekend Filipinos across the country flocked to memorial parks and cemeteries during All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day to visit beloved relatives and friends who have passed away. Known as the Undas holiday, or Todos los Santos, it is a tradition that marks the onset of November every year, with families braving the heavy traffic, heat and humidity, and throngs of people in cemeteries to honor their dearly departed in this special time of the year.
Undas is a celebration of life and death. It is a time when families get together and tell stories of their dearly departed for the benefit of the new generation of family members. It is also a time when we are reminded of our own mortality and how short life really is. It is a period for reflecting on how we can ensure that our loved ones will remain secure after we are gone.
Along with sickness, maternity, disability and old age, death is among the financial contingencies covered by the Social Security System (SSS). The SSS offers death and funeral benefits under the regular Social Security (SS) Program, as well as the Employees’ Compensation (EC) Program which provides additional financial support for work-related sickness, injury and death.
SS funeral benefits, which serve as reimbursement for the individual who shouldered the burial expenses of a member, range from P20,000 to P40,000. The computed SS funeral benefit is higher if the SSS member pays contributions at a higher monthly salary credit and for a longer period, while the EC funeral benefit for eligible work-related claims is fixed at P20,000.
As for death benefits, the dependent legal spouse, who is the primary beneficiary, is entitled to a lifetime SSS pension if the deceased member has paid at least 36 monthly contributions. In the absence of a dependent legal spouse and based on the hierarchy of legal heirs, a member’s parents, siblings or designated beneficiary can also claim a lump-sum amount as SSS death benefit. Up to five minor children of the member are also given monthly dependent’s pension until they turn 21, get married, start employment or die. Lifetime pension is granted to dependent’s pensioners who are unable to support themselves due to physical or mental disabilities.
SSS members are advised to ensure that their membership record is in order to facilitate the speedy release of their SS and EC benefits instead of waiting for financial contingencies to occur before updating their SSS records—or worse, leaving this burden of establishing facts as beneficiaries after they passed away.
For example, members must inform the SSS of changes in their beneficiaries when they get married or have children by submitting an accomplished SSS Member’s Amendment (E-4) form along with supporting documents such as
copies of marriage certificate or their children’s birth certificates from the National Statistics Office.
Members must check the accuracy of their records and in case of discrepancies, have these corrected while they still can to avoid delaying the processing of benefits. These discrepancies could be erroneous names or birth dates, or a date of SSS coverage that comes after the month of their first posted contribution. Unpaid SSS loans must also be settled, lest the outstanding principal and interest would be deducted from the amount of death benefit. A convenient way of verifying the details of their SSS membership is by enrolling at the SSS web site (www.sss.gov.ph), which gives members a secure electronic access to their SSS records.
Following the death of a member, beneficiaries can help ease the processing of death and funeral benefits by submitting the complete and proper forms and documents to the SSS. Since only one person can apply for the SSS funeral benefit, the designated claimant must make sure that the submitted receipts for burial expenses are in his or her name. In lieu of receipts, the claimant can also submit an affidavit of burial-related expenses, including incidental costs such as buying snacks for visitors attending the wake.
Death in the family is never a pleasant experience, but the family’s pain can be alleviated somehow when preparations are duly made for a peaceful passing.
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For more information about the Social Security System (SSS) and its programs, call our 24-hour call center at (632) 920-6446 to 55, Monday to Friday, or send an e-mail to member_relations@sss.gov.ph.
Susie G. Bugante is the vice president for public affairs and special events of the SSS. Send comments about this column to susiebugante.bmirror@gmail.com.