A labor group on Tuesday said it will only support the proposed increase in pension contribution if workers are consulted by the Social Security System (SSS).
The Associated Labor Unions-Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (ALU-TUCP) is demanding the SSS to include labor groups in the discussion of the contribution increase. “As part of its public consultation, we expect the SSS management will consult labor groups, including the ALU-TUCP, on the planned increase by next year,” ALU-TUCP Spokesman Alan A. Tanjusay said in a news statement.
The SSS is hoping Congress would pass the bill amending the SSS Charter, as provided in Republic Act 1161, or the Social Security Act, in 2018 to impose the stalled contribution-rate hike. The contribution increase, according to the SSS, is needed to maintain the pension fund’s actuarial life, following the P1,000 pension hike approved by President Duterte in February.
As for the ALU-TUCP, it said it will only support the contribution increase should workers be given a say in the public consultation.
“The ALU-TUCP will support the additional increase, only if the SSS management would be able to convince us if they have already improve its collection and have already prosecuted more delinquent employers, have done away with unnecessary trips abroad, done away with excessive bonuses of its top executives, have already improve its services to its members before we even want to hear the rationale behind how much is the increase and when is the implementation of the increase,” Tanjusay said.
He added the ALU-TUCP’s participation in the discussion does not necessarily mean the group would back the contribution-rate hike. “If they will not be able to convince us on these very important issues, then we will not support the increase and we are going to oppose it,” Tanjusay said.
In an interview with reporters last Friday, SSS President and CEO Emmanuel F. Dooc revealed the SSS is eyeing to roll out the contribution increase in 2018, with the anticipated passage of the amendment of the SSS Charter, which is in the technical working group in the Senate.
“[The proposed contribution-rate hike] will no longer require a presidential decree since it is already included in the amendment. The bill is already in the technical working group of the Senate…[and], hopefully, we can have a committee report by November,” Dooc said.
Dooc added the SSS intends to implement the contribution increase in time with the enactment of the the Tax Reform for Inclusion and Acceleration. The SSS president also said the contribution-rate hike has the backing of Finance Secretary Carlos G. Dominguez III.
Under the original proposal, the contribution increase of active SSS members would be collected in tranches until 2022, kicking off at 1.5-percent hike in May. Contribution-rate hike, according to the SSS, could go as high as 17 percent in 2022 from the current 11 percent.
Maximum salary credit was also supposed to be augmented to P20,000 from P16,000 in May. However, Dooc said the SSS has yet to calculate the amount of the new contribution increase, as the pension fund would need to catch up with the foregone revenues it could have earned if the hike was implemented on schedule.