The Social Security System should not be raising premiums if it can afford to give its board members millions of pesos in bonuses, Bayan Muna party-list Representative Neri Colmenares said Friday.
“Kesa sa unahin nilang mag-impose ng additional premium, dapat bawasan nila ang perks nila sa sarili nila.” Colmenares said in a report on “24 Oras” aired Friday evening.
The SSS is adjusting its contribution rate to 11 percent from 10.4 percent this month.
That means sales representative Melinda Reyes, who earns P15,000 a month, will now have to pay P545 a month instead of P500.
“Paano sila nakapagbigay ng ganun kalaki sa mga [board] members nila kung kulang na talaga ang pondo? Hindi dapat ganun yung sabihin nilang reason,” she said in the report.
SSS has more than 30 million members and it paid out P84.17 million in benefit payments in 2012. It also had a net revenue of P36.20 million, the report said.
“Tama ‘yan. Kumita tayo. Hindi naman sinasabi na mauubos yung pera agad agad. Ang gusto nga kasi nating mangyari ay pahabain yung buhay [ng fund] to 70 years,” Marissu Bugante, SSS vice president for public affairs said.
She added bonuses given to board members are sourced from contribution payments and income from SSS investments but that bonuses are regulated by the Governance Commission for Government Owned or Controlled Corporations (GCG).
Lawyer Paolo Salvosa, GCG spokesman, said the bonuses were based on how efficiently SSS collected contributions and on customer satisfaction.
“Na-measure po ‘yung number of complaints at nung 2012, less than one percent ang complaints nila,” he said.
Colmenares asked, though, how SSS can be said to have collected efficiently when SSS failed to collect around P90 billion in unremitted contributions from employers.
He added there are delays in the release of benefits as well as in the process of applying for benefits.
“Dapat, tingin namin, may overhaul na talaga sa board na iyan eh. Hindi maganda ang kanilang performance so far and it’s about time President Aquino should consider replacing the SSS board,” he said.
Bugante admitted the SSS has yet to collect premiums from some employers but that these are much less than the P90 billion Colmenares said is owed them.
“Mayroon kaming inimplement na pagbabago na naka-apekto doon sa ating processing time,” she said, adding there were some glitches in the new system but that these have been addressed. — JDS, GMA News
