Gordon urges SSS to study ways to defer contribution increase
Senator Richard J. Gordon, chairman of the Senate Committee on Government Corporation and Public Enterprises, called on the Social Security System (SSS) to submit to the committee proposals on how the implementation of the 2021 contribution increase could be suspended without shortening the fund life of the SSS.
“Bagama’t kailangan at nakasaad sa batas na magkaroon ng dagdag na kontribusyon ang SSS sa 2021, nakikita natin na hindi ito napapanahon lalo na't lugmok ang ating mga negosyo. Noong ginawa ang RA 11199, wala pa sa hinagap ng mga mambabatas na magkakaroon ng pandemya at magiging malala ang epekto nito sa ekonomiya,” Gordon said. (While there is a law mandating an increase in SSS contribution in 2021, we now know that this is not the right time to implement as businesses are down. When RA 11199 was passed, lawmakers did not know that there would be a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic that caused havoc on the economy.)
“Ayon sa datos ng NEDA (National Economic Development Authority), P5.2 trillion ang loss sales sa unang semestre pa lang ng taon. Kalahating taon pa lang, mas mataas na ito sa 2021 budget na P4.5 trillion. Kailangan nating balansehen ang interes ng mamamayan na nahihirapan sa pandemya pati rin ang interes na mapangalagaan ang pondo ng SSS,” he added. (NEDA data show that P5.2 trillion in sales was lost in the first semester of the year. It was half the year yet it is higher than the 2021 budget of P4.5 trillion. We need to balance the interest of our countrymen and those protecting the SSS funds.)
Gordon admits, however, that stopping the 2021 contribution increase is not easy and that a new law might be needed as the increase is specifically mandated in Republic Act No. 11199, or the Social Security Act of 2018, and there is no provision in the said law that empowers the SSS to stop it.
“Pag-uusapan namin ito sa komite at kung kinakailangan ay maglalabas kami ng bagong batas para maging magaan para sa ating mga kabababayan ang makaahon sa pandemyang ito habang patuloy na nagbabayad ng kanilang kontribusyon sa SSS,” he said. (The committee will discuss whether there is a need to pass a blll that would ease the burden of our countrymen who continue to pay their SSS contributions.)
RA 1199 was enacted on February 7, 2019 to protect the fund life of the SSS which was shortened by ten years from 2042 to 2032 on account of the approved P1,000 additional benefit given by President Duterte thru a memorandum from the Executive Secretary dated Feb. 22, 2017