SSS collections up 9% to P4.76B in Q1

MANILA, Philippines - The Social Security System (SSS) collected a total of P4.76 billion in contributions from members in the Visayas and Mindanao in the first quarter of the year, nine percent higher than the previous year’s P4.35 billion.

“Our accomplishments in Visayas and Mindanao, as well as in Northern Mindanao, are in step with overall SSS performance during the first quarter, which is characterized by higher contribution collections complemented by improved management of benefits,” SSS president and chief executive officer Emilio De Quiros said.

Vis-Min benefit payments during the quarter amounted to P5.4 billion, four percent lower than the previous year’s P5.6 billion.

For Northern Mindanao, benefit disbursements rose by one percent to P833.2 million.

The SSS enhanced its Annual Confirmation of Pensioners (ACOP) program in 2012 to ensure that only rightful beneficiaries receive SSS pensions. Early this year, the agency further improved the ACOP by basing the compliance date on the member’s birth month to help pensioners remember their annual schedule for confirming their continued eligibility for pension.

De Quiros said the pension fund’s innovative microsavings program called AlkanSSSya and accreditation of organized groups as collecting and servicing partner agents helped bolster the SSS’s efforts in expanding its coverage and encourage more workers to save for retirement through active SSS membership.

“We have stepped up our campaign to reach out to workers in Northern Mindanao, with the AlkanSSSya launch for the Magallanes Cabadbaran Tricycle Operators and Drivers Association on June 7. We will also sign an agreement on the same day with the Baug CARP Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative for the SSS coverage of over 6,800 farmers,” he said.