State-run Social Security System (SSS) is looking at adding four to five million new members by year-end, driven by extensive national membership and coverage initiatives.
In a statement, Rolando Ledesma Macasaet, SSS president and chief executive, said that the pension fund is on track for a record year, having registered 2.4 million new members by July 2024.
“SSS will sustain this growth trajectory in the coming months as we aim for a historic peak in new member registrations,” Macasaet said.
By mid-year, SSS said it had already met its annual target.
“But SSS won’t stop there. We remain steadfast in our mission to further broaden our membership base and cover all Filipinos in the workforce,” Macasaet said.
From January to July 2024, SSS posted a 165 percent increase in new members to 2.4 million from just 923,000 in the same period last year.
Historically, SSS has averaged around one million new members annually. This year, Macasaet said they aim for two million new registrants.
SSS Executive Vice President for Branch Operations Sector Voltaire P. Agas reported that the highest number of new members came from prior registrants, totaling 1.2 million.
Prior registrants are individuals who already have SS numbers but have yet to be reported as covered employees or self-employed members.
“We observed a significant increase in new self-employed members, which surged by 273 percent—from 112,000 in 2023 to 419,000 in 2024,” Agas said.
“Additionally, the number of new OFW members more than doubled, rising to 10,300 in 2024 from just over 5,000 last year,” he added.
Data showed that Luzon recorded the highest number of new members, with more than 882,000.
The National Capital Region (NCR) came in second with over 693,000 new enrollees.
Mindanao and Visayas followed with 436,000 and 417,000, respectively. Meanwhile, over 10,000 new members came from international operations. (Derco Rosal)