Saturday, July 26, 2008 Speak out: Keep politics out of SSS By Bernie G. Villorente Datingbayan Foundation, Inc.
NEWLY appointed and incoming SSS Administrator Romulo Neri must now set his focus on his fiduciary responsibility of safeguarding the agency’s funds.
Apparently, Mr. Neri has to work in the shadow of the ZTE-NBN imbroglio and the PCI Bank deal that involved over a billion-peso loss to the SSS.
He must also be made aware that millions now swelling the ranks of the poor sector are our senior citizens. Personally handed to DSWD Secretary, Dr. Esperanza I. Cabral, on the sidelines of the 2006 2nd National Convention of Gerontology and Geriatrics held in Cebu City on October 13-14 was an Executive Brief of our proposal entitled “Giving More Oomph for our Senior Citizens.”
Its introductory portion says: “Lacking in hindsight, a government bureaucrat once commented that the paltry monthly pensions that retirees have been receiving were the result of small contributions that they shelled out to the pension fund.
That was some 46 years ago when the peso’s buying power could give a minimum wage earner a respectable margin of comfort.
All through the years those small contributions were able to build the financial foundations of the country’s two fund management institutions (GSIS/SSS) to what they are today. Despite the billions of pesos of profits reported to the press, GSIS and SSS pensioners have not received any adjustment in their pensions for more than five years since they were granted by the Ramos and Estrada administrations fixed annually at 10 percent.
Even the meager 13th month pension benefit of GSIS survivorship pensioners have already been removed for two years now. Worse, the E-vat is almost wiping out the 20 percent discount on medicines enjoyed by seniors on top of the price spikes on drugs and services that weighed heavily on their capability to maintain regular intake of prescription medicines.
In the face of the stringent economic environment now prevailing, this proposal seeks to draw up a more realistic framework geared towards reducing dependence of seniors on government or politicians, and strengthening capabilities to solve their problems on their own. In the US, when seniors speak, politicians listen. Through their own initiatives, the powerful Association of Retired People has built up tremendous wellness-centered counseling to its members in a wide range of services that includes tips on diabetic care, fall-proof protection, or the power of touch and a host of other valuable information.”
Well, anyway, a 10 percent increase was subsequently released to SSS pensioners before that year ended. Here is our two cents’ worth of advice to Mr. Neri: keep politics out of SSS operations and render them transparent through its website if you want to avoid hiding behind the presidential skirt once again in defense of the much-ballyhooed executive privilege.
