Friday, August 31, 2007 SSS begins payment of 10% pension hike
SOCIAL Security System (SSS) members now enjoy a 10 percent increase in their pension benefits.
SSS president and chief executive officer Corazon dela Paz said President Arroyo approved the increase last July 21.
Dela Paz was in Cebu last Friday for the SSS employees and employers’ open forum and trade fair.
Helen Solito, SSS Central Visayas assistant vice president, said the agency started giving the first payments with the 10 percent increase this month.
She said the 10 percent increase in the pension will not jeopardize the funds of the SSS because Arroyo approved last November the recommended one-percent increase in members’ contributions.
From 9.4 percent, employers will be paying 10.4 percent starting January next year, Solito said.
Dela Paz said employers were not willing to shoulder the contribution increase.
“We talked about this already, since there is no salary increase for the employees, we encouraged them (employers) to provide additional benefits,” she said.
SSS, the “biggest pension fund in the country,” set up a two-week long trade fair at their old office site on Osmeña Blvd., Cebu City to celebrate its golden anniversary. (TEP)
