WITH the mandate to establish at least one Social Security Service (SSS) branch per congressional district in the country, SSS targets to have at least three additional branches in Davao Region for 2018.
In the press conference conducted by SSS Davao last Wednesday, December 13 at Ritz Hotel at Garden Oases, Mindanao Operations Group senior vice president Eddie Jara said they are currently finalizing the establishment of an office service branch in Felcris Centrale, Quimpo, Davao City.
According to SSS president and CEO attorney Emmanuel Dooc, there are roughly 121,000 branch accounts registered in Mindanao. These branch accounts include those establishments that have less than 100 employees.
“Mindanao’s contribution has a big part in the overall SSS operations. I am thankful that despite all the problems that Mindanao is facing right now particularly in terms of peace and order, you are able to deliver,” said Dooc.
As for his part, Mindanao South Division vice president Emmanuel Palma said they also target to open branches in Nabunturan, Compostela Valley and Calinan, Davao City. Aside from that, a branch in North Cotabato is also eyed to be established.
“We have proposed and it has been approved that we will open a branch in Nabunturan because it’s the only congressional district that still does not have an SSS branch. Specifically, we’re going to put it at Gaisano Nabunturan. We are also proposing to open a branch in Calinan. We have secured the approval of establishing a branch there. Now, we’re still looking for a site,” said Palma.
“Our goal is to open as much branches as possible to better address concerns on application, pre-processing, and loans,” he added.
Currently, SSS has 304 branches nationwide with 40 of this located in Mindanao. They also have 24 offices abroad to cater to Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs). These branches are mostly located in the Middle East.