SSS seeks Congress aid for its investment plan

AT the height of the controversy on the proposed 12,000 increase in the pensions of Social Security System (SSS) retirees, the new officials of the SSS led by Dean Amado Valdez, chairman, came forward with a compromise plan.

The 12,000 increase, the SSS officials said, would indeed not be feasible at this time as it would – as former President Benigno S. Aquino III said when he vetoed the bill last year – have “dire financial consequences” for the system. The 12,000 increase, Aquino then said, would deplete the SSS Investment Reserve Fund by the year 2029.

The pension bill was refilled in the new Congress but President Duterte’s economic managers shared President Aquino’s concerns. Then the SSS came forward and said a 11,000 increase would be feasible now, even under present circumstances. The other 11,000 could be granted after four years if the SSS is allowed to invest in new areas that will considerably improve its finances.

Last week, the SSS spelled out its proposal to Congress – amendment of its charter to allow it to invest in areas that would give higher returns. Today, the SSS is allowed to invest only in such safe but low-return areas like private securities, housing and real estate, short- and medium-term loans to members, government financial institutions, government infrastructures, and foreign currency-denominated investments.

It now proposes that it be allowed to invest in such projects as toll roads, utilities, and lotto operations. With increased income from these high-yielding projects, the SSS said it will be able to grant the other P1,000 to its pensioners in four years or less.

Congress should immediately enact the needed legislation proposed by SSS officials. After all, under the Social Security Law, RA 8282, “the Government of the Republic of the Philippines accepts general responsibility for the solvency of the SSS.” Congress is even supposed to annually appropriate funds to assure maintenance of an adequate working balance of SSS funds.

The SSS has started granting the 11,000 pension increase, a big help to old retirees, especially those getting only 12,500 a month. This amount would have been sufficient in earlier times, but inflation has considerably raised prices and living expenses. If, in four years, another 11,000 increase is granted because of the SSS officials’ investment initiative with the aid of Congress, the pensioners – including many who are now nearing retirement – would be most grateful to today’s SSS officials and the members of Congress that made it all possible.