SSS collects P213 million from amnesty scheme

MANILA, Philippines - The Social Security System (SSS) collected a total of P212.88 million from more than 2,000 employers who availed of the agency’s six-month amnesty period in which penalties on unpaid contributions were condoned, a ranking official said yesterday.

The pension fund has extended the program’s availment period until Aug. 2, from its original July 31 deadline which falls on a Saturday, SSS officer-in-charge Horacio Templo said

Templo said employers must not wait until the deadline to avoid the last-minute rush.

“If they wait too long, they might miss this rare opportunity to have all their penalties condoned once they settle their long-overdue obligations,” he said.

SSS has announced that it will step up the filing of cases against employers who remain delinquent after the amnesty period. Under the Social Security Law, non-remittance of contributions is punishable by imprisonment of six to 12 years.

Luzon-based employers made up 48 percent of the 2,089 total availment all over the country, but payments from the National Capital Region (NCR) amounted to P123.57 million or 58 percent of collections.

“Employers in Luzon paid an average of P52,151, the lowest in the country, while those in NCR remitted the highest average payment of P214,897 based on figures as of June 15,” Templo said.

About 1,200 employers, 692 of which are from Luzon, remitted a total of P111.21 million in full payments. SSS also collected P101.67 million from encashed checks of 909 employers who opted for an installment payment scheme of up to 48 months.

Templo reminded employers to be up-to-date in paying contributions so they can be eligible for the agency’s new amnesty on penalties on delinquent loan amortizations of employees.

The new loan amnesty, guidelines of which were published last week through an SSS circular, allows employers to remit their employees’ unpaid loan principal and interest due on or before April 1, 2010 without paying penalties.

“Employers must first settle their overdue contributions and verify the total loan delinquency of their employees at the SSS branch nearest them before availing of loan amnesty,” he said.

The SSS charges monthly penalties of three percent for overdue contributions and one percent for delinquent loans. The loan amnesty covers short-term SSS member loans such as salary, calamity, emergency, stock investment and privatization fund loans.