The Philippine Social Security System: Protecting Workers Nationwide
The Philippine Social Security System administers social security services to employees in the private sector. The government office mandated to carry out this duty is the Social Security System or the SSS.
An orderly and dependable system was proposed by then President Manuel Roxas in 1948. He wanted an effective mechanism of protection for low-salaried Filipino employees and wage earners.
Nine years later, the Social Security Law - also known as the Social Security Act - was finally implemented, providing replacement income for employees in times of sickness, disability, death, maternity, calamity, and old age.
The Philippine Social Security System administers two major programs, namely, the basic Social Security (SS) Program, and the Employees' Compensation (EC) Program.
The latter, started in 1975, was established to provide double compensation to a worker in the event that an illness, accident, or death occurs during a work-related activity. These benefits are extended only to SSS members with employers other than themselves.
The implementation of the Philippine Social Security System also marked the adoption by the government of the 'social insurance approach' to social security, covering the working segment in the private sector.
In 1997, Pres. Fidel Ramos further strengthened the SSS with Republic Act 8282, providing workers with better benefits, expanded coverages, and improved investment flexibility.
Stiffer penalties were also imposed on violators of the law, while a program of condonation of penalties for delinquent employers was set up to increase revenues, and thus improve services.
The Philippine Social Security System has recently been very busy releasing loans to victims of the recent typhoon, internationally code-named Xangsane, which left thousands of people homeless in its wake.
It has also made a significant breakthrough in its announcement that compulsory retirees, or those reaching the compulsory retirement age of 65, may now claim their retirement benefits on the same day they retire.
SSS President and CEO Corazon de le Paz announced this and advised prospective compulsory retirees to begin filing their retirement claims 6 months before they finish their service, as the processing of the benefit may now be completed in 15 working days.
From the first half of 2006, retirement pension has retained the top spot in the list of The Philippine Social Security System's disbursement benefits, showing a 10.1% increase for the first half of 2005.
Members of the Philippine Social Security System can now also avail of the new SSS Infoline, which is a stand-alone computer providing information about SSS policies, loans, benefits, and important statistics.
It can also provide information on their pending, current, or finished loan applications and loan payments, just with the use of their digital SSS ID cards.
SSS Infoline kiosks strategically set up at the SSS Quezon City main office and at selected shopping malls nationwide is the Philippine Social Security System's latest effort to provide its milions of members with a quick access to valuable information on their membership.
Its touch-screen mechanism gives instructions in either English or Filipino, and short audiovisual clips are also utilized to make the data easier to remember. SSS Infoline also features a feedback page for members' comments and suggestions.
As of the first quarter of 2006, the SSS has more than 20 million members, with over P208 billion in assets. These are invested in equities; housing, member, and development loans; government interests; and real estate.
An average ROI of 7.3% keeps the Philippine Social Security System adequately equipped to fulfill the social security needs of its 20-million strong member base.
Government workers are similarly protected by an institution similar to the SSS, namely the Government Service Insurance System or GSIS.
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