SSS expands coverage

MANILA, Philippines - More than 27,000 workers from Metro Manila and parts of Luzon will benefit from wider access to Social Security System (SSS) services after accrediting non-government organizations (NGOs) assisting the urban poor and a cooperative for vegetable vendors as partner agents. The government-run pension fund signed a servicing partner agent (SPA) agreement with Kasagana-Ka Development Center Inc. (Kasagana-Ka) to reach out to the NGOs’ over 24,000 member-beneficiaries, as well as SPA and collecting partner agent (CPA) agreements with the Baguio Vegetable Retailers Savings and Credit Cooperative (BAVESCO) which to date has more than 3,700 members, within the first half of 2014. SSS senior vice president for account management Judy Frances See said SPAs could accept SSS membership, loan and funeral benefit applications to help their members file these without going to an SSS office. On the other hand, CPAs can collect and remit contributions and loan payments of their own members, making active SSS membership easier and more convenient for these workers. At present, 14 organizations across the country, including Kasagana-Ka and BAVESCO, are now authorized as CPAs, SPAs, or both. Two multi-purpose cooperatives, which have a combined reach of over 17,000 workers in Luzon and Visayas, are awaiting accreditation as both SPA and CPA.