First of two parts
The Covid-19 pandemic has been affecting people all over the world for more than a year now. Its effect on the social and economic well-being cannot be measured, most particularly to the situation of workers in small and medium enterprises.
For this column, I would like to discuss the role of the Social Security System (SSS) in providing the small business workers the wage subsidy program, which was launched on April 17, 2020—just a little over a month after the strict quarantine lockdowns were implemented by the government.
The government made a drastic but necessary decision to implement a nationwide lockdown. While the restriction in mobility helped slow down the transmission of the virus, it also affected the economy. A number of businesses suspended operations while others had to shut down their companies permanently. As a result, many Filipino workers lost their jobs.
In response to this predicament, the national government—with the help of the legislators from the two houses of Congress—enacted Republic Act 11469 or the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act. The law allowed the national government to implement key measures to help curb and mitigate the pandemic’s impact on the Filipino people. Spearheaded by the Department of Finance (DOF), the administration embarked on what could be the most extensive social protection program in Philippine history; that is, provide financial support to low-income families, workers in the small business sector, and other vulnerable members of society.
The wage subsidy for small business workers
One of the core features of the Bayanihan to Heal as One Act is providing a wage subsidy to workers of small businesses affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) implementation—called the Small Business Wage Subsidy (SBWS) program.
The SBWS was a joint undertaking of the DOF, the SSS, and the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR). The P51-billion program gave financial assistance to small business workers who did not get paid for at least two months due to the work stoppages brought about by the lockdowns. As of June 2020, a total of P45.61 billion has been distributed to more than 3 million workers under SBWS.
The said program focuses on workers of small businesses that are registered with SSS and BIR. Two tranches of wage subsidies were given to the workers, regardless of their employment status, if they met the following qualifications:
- unable to work during the ECQ implementation;
- did not receive any compensation due to the temporary closure or suspension of work; and
- certified by their employers as having met all the criteria of the program.
Qualified workers received wage subsidies amounting to P5,000 to P8,000, based on their respective areas of jurisdiction.
However, workers who already received other government subsidies from the Department of Labor and Employment’s Covid-19 Adjustment Measures Program (CAMP) and the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s Social Amelioration Program (SAP) were deemed no longer eligible under the SBWS program.
SBWS was a unique form of government subsidy because it was automated and digital from its application to disbursement.
A highly digital program
SSS played a significant part in developing a dedicated webpage for the SBWS application. It was all done online since SSS has an organized and extensive database of employers and members. This is why the National Government has tapped us to oversee its disbursement to the rightful beneficiaries credited through contactless payment such as the worker’s chosen bank account or PayMaya e-wallet account. Other beneficiaries, however, opted to receive the financial assistance through cash remittance via M Lhuillier Kwarta Padala. We consider the SBWS program as one of SSS’ milestone accomplishments in 2020. We believe this— along with special Covid-19 relief packages offered as early as March last year—contributed to help ease the dire situation the working public continue to face in these tough times.
To be continued
Aurora C. Ignacio is SSS president and chief executive officer.
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