The Social Security System (SSS) has issued show cause orders to 11 employers in Negros Occidental, mostly in Bacolod City, for failure to comply with the mandatory provisions of the Social Security Act, mainly non-remittance of contributions and non-registration of businesses with the agency.
Top officials of SSS central office led by senior vice president and chief legal counsel judge Voltaire Jacinto Cuisia along with personnel of the agency’s Visayas Operations Group and Bacolod branch first served the show cause order to Red Aeronautics and Technological School in Silay City for non-payment of contributions.
The team then issued the same notice to six other establishments in Bacolod City, also for non-remittance of SSS contributions.
These are Habagat Security Services, Fit and Relax Fitness Gym and Spa, Gerald's Restobar, R.E.D. Digital Photography, Hong Department Store, and Miracle Taxi.
All in all, the seven employers have an accumulated delinquency of almost P2.3 million.
Four other employers in the city were given show cause order after they failed to comply with their SSS business registration.
These are Aasanie, Sabai-Rak Salon and Spa, Two Pans Cafe, and Aidalicious Inasal and Resto with total delinquency amounting to about P72,000.
After explaining to the employers or management of the businesses the show cause order, copies of which were posted in every door or wall of the establishments.
All 11 delinquent employers were required to visit the SSS branch nearest them within 15 days from posting of the show cause order to settle their pending liabilities.
Cuisia said employers who fail to comply will face criminal charges. Aside from paying the delinquency, they are subject to three percent per month penalty and possible imprisonment of six to 12 years.
"SSS is a pension fund, which can be sustained through efficient collections. One way to intensify the awareness is to go around and tell employers that we are serious in enforcing the law," he said, adding the agency is also set to implement another collection measure.
This is by enforcing its power to issue a warrant of garnishment to erring employers. Through this, the agency can go directly to the bank of the employer and deduct immediately its delinquency.
The activity is part of the sixth regional Run After Contribution Evaders (Race), a national campaign of the SSS.
Since it was launched in 2017, the campaign was already conducted in Quezon City, and provinces of Batangas, Pangasinan and Palawan.
Prior to Bacolod City, the SSS also visited the cities of Davao and General Santos.
For this year, the pension fund has already visited 40 non-compliant business establishments in the country and has collected some P2 million.
Cuisia said Race is part of the intensification campaign in promoting collection and coverage.
He said its purpose is just to remind, not to threaten, employers and warn them of their obligations to their workers.
Most of the establishments issued with show cause orders pledged to comply.
For Habagat Security Services with at least 70 employees, for instance, its manager Arnold Rodriguez said they will immediately inform the owner about it.
Annie Joy Palmares, a staff of Hong Department Store, however, claimed that some of her co-workers really opted not to be registered with SSS.
"They just want to have their full salary instead of having deductions for SSS contributions," she said.
But for the agency, Cuisia stressed it is the duty of the employers to deduct from the employees their share for contributions.
"These 11 are just randomly selected based on the complaints received by our branch here," he said, adding that "there are more non-compliant employers, we will continue to hunt them."
P50M delinquency
For SSS-Bacolod branch alone, which covers the cities of Bacolod, Talisay and Silay, the agency has yet to run after some 2,780 non-compliant employers as of yesterday.
In terms of the amount of the delinquencies, it was pegged at P50 million based on a theoretical assessment.
Its branch head Lina Hilado said the number of non-compliant employers comprises 40 percent of the total employers they cover.
There are about 6,955 employers in the three cities under SSS-Bacolod branch.
In terms of employees, records obtained by SunStar Bacolod earlier showed that it caters to 422,777 registered members.
Hilado said most of the erring employers were already criminally charged.
For the 11 establishments with show cause orders, "they were previously given billing letters but still did not comply."
Aside from legal charges, the penalty also includes payment of death benefits by the employers in case their workers, without SSS membership, die.
"Hopefully, this operation will create awareness on the part of employers to pay the contributions to ensure the on-time provision of benefits to their employees like sick and maternity leave, among others," Hilado added.
Moreover, the agency clarified that employees upon the start of work can already be registered as an SSS member regardless of their status.
"We urge employees to report non-compliant employers as it is their rights to avail of social services and benefits from SSS," Hilado added.