REACTING to migrant worker solidarity groups decrying forced membership in the private pension body, the Social Security System (SSS) said it is duty-bound to implement provisions under Republic Act (RA) 11199, or the Social Security Act of 2018, to provide social protection for Filipinos, both based in the country and abroad.
In a statement on Thursday, the state-run pension fund pointed out that RA 11199 is a product of in-depth and long discussions between the SSS, its stakeholders and the lawmakers, adding that the provisions in the law are for the benefit of Filipinos here and abroad.
Public consultations and hearings were conducted during and after the passage of the SS Act of 2018, contrary to recent claims that some sectors, particularly the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) community, were not consulted in crafting the law, SSS management said.
“Public consultation hearings on the SS Act of 2018 were held on March 1 and 4 in Cebu and Manila, while a separate public forum on the provision of mandatory coverage of OFWs under said law was also conducted on April 29,” the SSS said.
The consultations were attended by representatives from the Filipino Association of Mariners’ Employment Inc., Philippine Association of Service Exporters Inc., Joint Manning Group, Associated Marine Officer’s and Seamen’s Union of the Philippines, Coalition of Licensed Agencies for Domestic and Service Workers Inc.
The SSS said its end-March 2019 data showed OFW paying members stood at only 325,061 as compared to the 2.3 million OFWs recorded in the latest Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) data for the period of April to September 2018.
The pension fund called on the public to view SSS contributions as savings and not an additional expense, with the agency offering seven kinds of benefits in exchange for member contributions: sickness, maternity, disability, retirement, funeral, death and unemployment benefits, which could all be availed of by OFWs.
Last June 18 it was reported that migrant advocates and the recruitment industry warned that OFWs may have fewer job opportunities abroad in exchange for their new additional benefits from the SSS, as the implementing rules and regulations (IRR) on the mandatory OFW coverage under the SS Act of 2018 took effect.
The Joint Manning Group (JMG) said Filipino seafarers would be affected by the implementation of the provision for OFWs, as their foreign employers would now have to pay more for their SSS premium.
SSS membership for the estimated over 380,000 Filipino seafarers abroad was not mandatory prior to implementation of the law.
The SSS said in March it was targeting to implement the mandatory OFW insurance provision under the SS Act of 2018 by June this year, to enable them to enjoy all benefits of the state-run pension fund.
SSS Chief Legal Counsel Voltaire P. Agas said under this provision, land-based OFWs are covered by the SSS in the same manner as self-employed individuals, meaning, they will shoulder both the employer and employee contribution-sharing scheme temporarily. This is because the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) and Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) have yet to forge bilateral labor agreements asking employers from other countries to shoulder their respective contribution share.
He said the sea-based OFW already enjoy the benefits of a normal employee as their employer share of contributions is being shouldered by their respective manning agencies.
Premium contributions rising
Meanwhile, the SSS also refuted claims it is not doing its job of collecting premium contributions from members especially through their employers.
“SSS records show that its contributions collections from members significantly increased since the current administration assumed office—from P132 billion in 2015 and P144 billion in 2016 to P159 billion in 2017 and to P181 billion in 2018,” the SSS added.
The increase in contribution collections is the product of aggressive collection efforts being pushed by the current SSS administration, which include the pilot implementation of the Run After Contributions Evaders, the SSS version of Operation “Tokhang,” and the issuance of Warrants of Distraints, Levy, and Garnishment on delinquent employers.
Under the SS Act of 2018, a contribution penalty condonation program for employers is now in effect until September 1, 2019.
1 comment
Migrant workers are not totally against SSS benefits but the mandatory contribution at the time of enrollment of the member is not acceptable to the worker. To ask the worker to give the initial contribution when the worker is just starting to work is not fair to the workers. They still have to earn one centavo when they are deployed abroad and the workers do not have the funds to pay the initial contribution when they are processed at the POEA>