SSS collection up by 9.6% in April

STATE-run Social Security System’s (SSS) revenue collection from member’s contribution in the first four months of 2017 increased by 9.6 percent by April this year to P52.18 billion from the P47.59 billion recorded in the same period last year on the back of strengthened efforts to increase the pension fund’s income.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel F. Dooc said that based on the data from the General Accounting Department of the pension fund, collections for the month of January translated the highest growth at 13.9 percent to P13.55 billion followed by the performance on the month of February at 12 percent-growth to P12.86 billon.

March and April collections also showed a positive growth performance at 7 percent to P13.14 billion, and 5.9-percent growth to P12.63 billion, respectively.

For the period of January to April 2017, collections grew at an average of P13.05 billion every month.

This was mainly driven by the aggressive contribution collection drive of SSS such as “Operation Tokhang” dubbed as “Run After Contribution Evaders” (Race) or running after delinquent employers.

Race was launched last April in Greenhills Shopping Center and about 684 retailer stores were mapped for their compliance with Republic Act 8282 or the SS Law.

Just recently, the SSS, in cooperation with Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) of Philippine National Police (PNP), arrested the owner of a security agency for violation of Republic Act 8282 or also known as Social Security Act of 1997, with delinquencies reaching more than P180,000.

Also, the SSS has developed and submitted to the office of Pres. Rodrigo Duterte the manual on Warrant of Distraint, Levy and Garnishment (WDLG).

The proposed WDLG is similar to the tax collection of the Bureau of Internal Revenue whereby

SSS can seize real and personal properties, subject to an auction sale, as payment for unpaid contributions.

“We’ve also increased our presence to our members so they can easily reach us as we opened three new branches, 15 new service offices and two foreign offices. We’ve also relocated 14 of our branches since we assumed into post last November 2016,” Dooc said.

SSS has also engaged in official memorandum of agreements with different professional groups like the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) to encourage lawyers to become active members of SSS.

Likewise, the new SSS administration assured its members that the pension fund has enough reserves to fund the recently approved pension increase for the first year of implementation due to the strengthened effort to increase collection.

"Our current contribution collection and investment income from last year is enough to finance the additional P1,000 benefit for pensioners so we assure the public that the pension fund remains strong and viable," said Dooc.

To date, the SSS Investment Reserve Fund has remained intact, standing at P478 billion. This fund is invested to lengthen the lifespan of the pension fund to pay for future benefits. SSS