THE Social Security System (SSS) signed four memorandum of agreement (MOA) with two municipal governments in Zamboanga Sibugay providing SSS coverage to non-regular government employees.
The MOA were entered into by the SSS-Ipil Branch with the municipal governments of Titay and Ipil in the province of Zamboanga Sibugay.
Marnelli Pastorfide, SSS Ipil Branch head, said in a statement on Friday, September 22, the MOA provides a framework for the implementation of the SSS KaSSSangga-Collect program.
Pastorfide said the program aims to register the municipalities’ Job Order (JO) and contract of service (COS) workers who are not covered by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), as self-employed members of the SSS.
Pastorfide said three agreements were signed with the municipal government of Titay for the initial coverage of its 145 JOs working at the offices of the Barangay Nutrition Scholars (53), Child Development Workers (30), and Barangay Health Workers (62).
“What we have accomplished here is provide an avenue for JOs to have social security protection while they wait for their coverage under the GSIS upon regularization. We are overwhelmed by the support of LGU (Local Government Unit) Titay for signing not one, but three memoranda of agreement,” Pastorfide said.
Meanwhile, the municipal government of Ipil also signed a MOA with SSS anew to ensure its 52 JOs, particularly the barangay day care workers operating under the Municipal Social Worker Development (MSWD) Office.
On September 25, 2018, the municipal government of Ipil signed a MOA with SSS to implement the program, then called KaltaSSS-Collect Program, to cover all JOs under the municipal office.
“We also commend the efforts of LGU Ipil for considering their day care workers and facilitating their SSS coverage. The MOA signing is a very simple ceremony, yet its purpose of providing social security protection to day care workers is very meaningful,” Pastorfide said.
Through the KaSSSangga-Collect Program, both Tiya and Ipil municipal governments will adopt an automatic deduction scheme for the regular monthly collection and remittance of their JOs’ social security contributions.
Pastorfide said this will ensure them of receiving benefits from contingencies like sickness, maternity, disability, retirement, death, and funeral, and qualify them with various loan privileges.
As self-employed members, they can also avail of Employees’ Compensation (EC) in times of work-related sickness, injury or death, Pastorfide said. (SunStar Zamboanga)
