The number of senior citizens, or those who are aged 60 and above, are increasing in the Philippines. Based on the latest
study of the Population Commission, by year-end 2018 there will be 8,013,059 Filipinos over 60, constituting 8.2 percent of Filipinos. Of this group, 5,082,049 will be 65 and older.
Of the more-than 8 million senior citizens by year-end, a significant number will be pensioners of the Social Security System. As of December 2017 the pension fund has 2.3 million pensioners and, based on actuarial projections, the number of SSS pensioners will increase by 100,000 to 150,000 every year.
In 2012 the SSS implemented the Annual Confirmation of Pensioners system, which requires pensioners to annually report to the SSS or to banks where they receive their
pension for continuous payment of their monthly pension. The Acop intends to protect SSS beneficiaries and the SSS fund from fraudulent claims like cases when a pensioner is already dead but is still receiving his monthly pension.
In this annual kamustahan between the SSS and its pensioners, a good number of pensioners have requested to waive complying with the Acop so they could save time and money in reporting to the SSS branch or bank.
So, late last year, the SSS piloted a new way to help pensioners comply with the Acop. The pension fund forged an agreement with the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) for checking of retiree pensioners. Starting October 2017, retiree pensioners aged 84 years old and below who are residing in the Philippines need not go to any SSS branch or depository bank for the Acop.
This means that more than 1.86 million retiree pensioners are now able to have extra time for other activities and savings from the cost of transport going to the SSS or their depository bank because the SSS is now doing the Acop for them through the PSA and other verification processes.
However, since the dropping of the Acop is a pilot program, other types of pensioners still have to report annually to the SSS or their depository bank for the Acop. This includes pensioners who are residing abroad, total disability pensioners in the Philippines, survivor pensioners and minor or incapacitated dependent pensioners.
Further, retiree pensioners based in the Philippines who are 85 years old and above and survivor pensioners who cannot report personally due to sickness, illness or injury are still required to comply with the the Acop, but through the mandatory domiciliary or home visit of an SSS employee or doctor.
For pensioners abroad, there are numerous ways of reporting to the the SSS, primary of which is the “Acop thru Video Conference” for easier and faster compliance with the Acop. The SSS’s Acop requirement is just a click away. To make an appointment with the SSS, simply send an e-mail to ofw.relations@sss.gov.ph or to member_relations@sss.gov.ph indicating in the subject line “Skype [Acop], pensioner’s name and SSS number.”
SSS pensioners are the pillars of the SSS because their contributions made during their productive years serve as lifeblood of the pension fund. Their monthly pension is the fruit of years of hard work and perseverance. Naturally, the SSS will have to love back its pensioners by giving them the privileges and conveniences that they justly deserve.
