Five-month SSS benefit payouts top P90 billion, increase by 13%
THE SOCIAL Security System (SSS) said it released P90.52 billion worth of benefits in the five months to May, up 13.3% from a year earlier, following an expansion in its membership base.
In a statement, the SSS said the payouts went to 3.46 million members of the pension fund for private-sector employees.
“Along with the rapidly increasing membership base is the constant rise of benefit releases to our qualified members, pensioners, and beneficiaries,” SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Aurora C. Ignacio said Wednesday.
Social security benefits or P89.92 billion accounted for 99% of the total, while the remaining P608 million went to the employees’ compensation (EC) program.
Of the social security benefits, SSS released P53.74 billion in retirement payouts to 1.81 million members, and P23.72 billion in death benefits to 1.08 million beneficiaries.
It also issued P2.44 billion in disability benefits to 97,258 members, P5.99 billion worth of maternity benefits to 157,132 workers, P1.44 billion in sickness benefits to 147,210 members, P1.96 billion in funeral benefits to 84,530 claimants and P642 million in unemployment benefits to 47,764 members.
For the EC program, a facility which offers aid to workers who suffer work-related serious injury resulting in disability or death, the pension fund released P426 million worth of death benefits to 16,492 beneficiaries; P78 million of disability benefits to 2,044 workers, P98 million in sickness benefits to 11,663 members, P2 million worth of medical services to 393 members. It released P3 million worth of funeral benefits.
“On top of the regular social security benefits, employed and self-employed members are also entitled to receive EC benefits… We always reiterate in our promotional campaigns the primary responsibility of our member-employers, which is to report their workers and remit their contributions regularly to SSS,” Ms. Ignacio said.
The SSS has adopted electronic disbursement channels to fast-track its processes, especially for benefits. — Beatrice M. Laforga
