Saturday, October 21, 2006
Arroyo okays hike in social security pensions effective September
PRESIDENT Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo on Friday approved a 10 percent across-the-board increase on the pensions of Social Security System (SSS) members effective Sept. 1, 2006.
The announcement was made by SSS chairman Thelmo Cunanan after Arroyo delivered her speech at the 32nd Philippine Business Conference (PBC) at the Manila Hotel.
Cunanan said the SSS board recommended the increase due to the improvement in the actuarial life of the SSS from five years before Arroyo assumed the presidency in 2001 to another 26-27 years this year.
"We decided to give benefits to the pensioners to help them cope with the inflation rate and the rising cost of living. We are sharing this because we feel that we have improved the handling of the pension fund," he said in an ambush interview.
He said this should increase the average pension of about half a million pensioners from P7,000 to P7,700 a month. He said the last increase in pension benefits was more than five years ago.
He said the additional benefits can be supported by the earnings of the SSS, which has reached P1.6 billion as of July to August. "It won't be recommended if it's not actuarially sound," he added.
Cunanan expressed hope that with Arroyo's support and good fund management the actuarial life of the fund would be increased to maybe 60 years. (JMR/Sunnex)
(October 21, 2006 issue)
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