It's under study.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque gave this assurance Thursday, Sept. 30, to the business sector following appeals from its stakeholders to postpone the increase in monthly contributions to the Social Security System (SSS).

Roque, in a virtual press briefing, said it is already studyig a recommendation submitted by the SSS itself.

The statuses of the two sides will be weighed by the Office of the President, he said.

"Ang tinitignan po natin yung (We will look at the) financial viability ng (of) SSS, at the same time yung kahinaan ng negosyo at ng hanapbuhay sa kabila po ng pandemya (the downturn in both business and employment amid the pandemic)," Roque said.

"So asahan po natin ang desisyon sa lalong madaling panahon (So let's expect a decision in the soonest possible time)," he added.

Last May, President Duterte signed Republic Act (RA) 11548, which hiked SSS monthly contributions from 12 percent from 13 percent.

A postponement to the implementation of the premium hike would supposedly give local companies--particularly micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs)--the slack they need to recover from the economic challenges brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

The Philippines has yet to fully reopen its economy since imposing a hard lockdown in March 2020.

As for calls to bring back the lower SSS contribution rate, Roque expressed doubts if this could happen since the new rate was "mandated by law".

"Pero pinag-aaralan po lahat yan dahil tinitignan po natin kung paano na maiibsan yung kahirapan ng ating kababayan ngayon (But all of those are being studied since we're looking at ways to mitigate the poverty of the people)," he said.