The culminating activity of SSS’ 64th Anniversary was the Balikat ng Bayan Awarding Ceremonies, which was held last September 30 via our official Facebook page. Through this virtual activity, we bestowed recognitions to our institutional partners in providing social security protection to our valued members, employers, pensioners, and other stakeholders.
Instituted in 1995, the Balikat ng Bayan Award is a tribute given by the Social Security System to honor employers, banks, media, accreditation partners, etc. for the execution and delivery of SSS services and programs. Aptly named Balikat ng Bayan, it connotes the mutually beneficial partnerships that helped SSS realize breakthrough performances in the areas of benefits and loan releases, membership coverage, collection efforts, promotional campaigns, and fund enhancements. The recognition is a manifestation of how SSS acknowledges and values its partnership with these groups in pursuit of its corporate mandate.
Since then, this has been become one of the highlights of SSS anniversary celebrations for the past 26 years.
As social gatherings are not yet allowed for health and safety reasons due to the current pandemic, we decided to conduct the Awards ceremony virtually for the first time.
For 2021, we had a total of two categories, including two special citations, for a total of six awardees. The awards were conferred on employers and organizations that excelled in their respective categories for the past year in terms of compliance with the Social Security Law, accurate and timely submission of reports, as well as their active participation in SSS programs.
For the Top Employer Categories, employers must satisfy the following minimum requirements:
- must be a regularly-paying employer, both for contributions and loan remittances;
- must be covered by the SSS not later than 2015;
- must be submitting their collection lists online; and
- must be registered in the SSS web facility.
Conferred for the Top Employer Awards are the following:
- EVA Airways Corp.—for Small Account Category.
- Makilala Medical Specialists—for Medium Account Category.
- BDO Unibank, Inc.—for Large Account Category.
For the Best Media Partner, the criteria were based on their compliance with the Social Security Law in terms of regular remittance of contributions and loans of employees. They must have also provided segments/reports/documentaries and interviews about the SSS that should have a big impact on society in terms of significance to social security, labor practices, and workers’ concerns, as well as adherence to journalism standards in terms of balance, accuracy, and fairness.
For this year, the Best Media Partner went to BusinessMirror (Philippine Business Daily Mirror) while special citations were awarded to Bulgar (Sison’s Publishing House, Inc.) and DXRD-Davao City (Swara Sug Media Corp.).
The plaques that were awarded to our winners were designed by the late Dr. Antonino Raymundo, a well-renowned and respected Filipino sculptor. Circular in shape, the plaque signifies the SSS’ vision of universal coverage, while the encircling cord represents the System’s stability and commitment to its mandate. The map of the Philippines depicts the efforts of the System to bring its services closer to its members.
On this note, I commend all our awardees for their commitment to advance the welfare of their employees by complying with the SSS Law and for adapting to the digitalization initiatives of SSS and promoting them to their employees. My deepest appreciation also goes out to all our partner-institutions who have continuously shown us their support and cooperation through the years.
Lastly, I hope that our current and future partners will continue to provide our private-sector workers the social security protection they deserve by staying committed to their responsibility as employers and partner-institutions of SSS in the coming years.
Again, congratulations to all our awardees!
Aurora C. Ignacio is SSS president and chief executive officer.
We welcome your questions and insights on the topics that we discuss. E-mail mediaaffairs@sss.gov.ph for topics that you might want us to discuss.