Senator Risa Hontiveros on Monday questioned the “unacceptably low” release of unemployment benefits for workers affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Hontiveros said the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) should look into the matter with the Social Security System (SSS) and help rectify the “alarming situation.”
“Ayon na mismo sa Labor Force Survey ng Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), may 7.2 million na Pilipino na nawalan ng trabaho nitong Abril (Based on the PSA’s Labor force survey, there are 7.2 million Filipinos who lost their jobs last April). Comparing that to the number of workers who received unemployment benefits from SSS these past few months, that means only 0.83 percent of displaced workers have received assistance from the SSS,” Hontiveros noted.
“Hindi naman yata katanggap-tanggap na ganyang kaliit lang ang matutulungan ng SSS ngayong marami ang manggagawang nawalan ng trabaho at kita (I don’t think this is acceptable that SSS were only able to help a few workers who lost their jobs and livelihood),” she stressed.
“The DOLE, being on the governing board of the SSS should help rectify this alarming situation,” she said.
She said DOLE should look into the reasons as to why the SSS has not been able to release insurance benefits at a faster and wider scale. It should also look into the possible non-payment or non-remittance of SSS contributions of employers on behalf of their workers.
“DOLE must strictly monitor employers and ensure that these entities are able to remit mandatory employee benefits such as SSS contributions, so that in cases of emergencies, the employees will have something to tide them over during the crisis,” she said.
She also urged DOLE to strictly enforce the law and go after employers who are not paying contributions and punish them to the full extent of the law.
“DOLE should be at the forefront of upholding the rights and welfare of workers. Dapat siguraduhing mananagot ang employers na hindi sumusunod sa batas na nagpoprotekta sa ating mga manggagawa (They should make sure that employers who do not follow the law that is supposed to protect workers),” she reiterated.