THE Social Security System (SSS) said senators and congressmen comprising the bicameral conference committee approved the bill seeking to amend the 21-year-old charter of the state-run pension fund.
SSS president and chief executive officer Emmanuel F. Dooc expressed his gratitude to the bicameral conference committee for approving and adopting the almost unchanged Senate Bill 1753 or the Social Security Act of 2018.
One of the salient features of the Senate Bill 1753 is the rationalization of powers of the Social Security Commission, the policy-making body of the SSS, allowing it to expand the investing capacity of the pension fund that will generate better income for the benefit of its members and pensioners.
It also aims to strengthen the pension fund through the implementation of the gradual increase in monthly contributions from the current 11 percent to an additional one-percentage point starting on the year of implementation until it reaches 15 percent in 2025, and the gradual adjustment of the minimum and maximum monthly salary credit.
Further, the bill, once enacted into law, will ensure the social security of the growing number of Filipinos outside the country as it provides for the mandatoryn SSS coverage of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).
“Right now, despite the huge number of OFWs, some say there are about 10 million of them at present, we only cover about 550,000 of them. So this law will mandatorily cover all the OFWs to ensure their social security protection,” Dooc said.
Among the features of the bicam-approved version is the inclusion of the unemployment insurance for SSS members who will be displaced involuntarily.
“Under the proposed measure, displaced workers will get financial assistance from SSS in the form of cash equivalent to half of their average monthly salary credit for two months,” Dooc said.