Any government action intended to withhold or reduce benefits for citizens inevitably elicits strong, often bitter, opposition from those adversely affected by the action. President Noy Aquino’s veto of the Congress-approved bill mandating a P2,000 increase in the monthly pensions of Social Security System members is no exception. PNoy has been pilloried for allegedly taking the bread out of SSS members’ mouths through his negative decision on the mill.
It goes without saying that the approved congressional action has been acclaimed by the great majority of SSS members, who claim that the progressive diminution in the purchasing power of their pensions has rendered them less capable of meeting their living costs and paying for their basic needs. In their campaign for a congressional override of PNoy’s veto they have been enjoying the support of organizations and individuals who instinctively feel (1) that the management of the nation’s largest social security institution is unjustifiably stingy toward its members and (2) that SSS members have an entitlement to periodic increases in the benefits they receive from the system. Of course, given the timing of their action the members of Congress are propagating the line that they did the right thing in approving the pension-increasing bill whereas PNoy, who is the titular Chief Executive of the SSS did the wrong thing in vetoing the bill.
The position of the SSS reminds me of the joke about the rider of a New York City taxi who, running late for an appointment, told the driver, “I’m late for an appointment. Can’t you go any faster?” The driver turned around to the passenger and said, “I can. But I’m not allowed to leave my taxi.” In effect, the answer of SSS management to the opponents of their position and of the presidential veto is, “We have no objection to a P2,000 increase in the monthly pension of SSS members. But if the increase is approved without corresponding changes on the resources side of its balance sheet, the system will be increasingly unable to provide non-pension benefits to its active members and the SSS fund will be depleted by 2029. Positive changes on the SSS balance sheet’s resources side would come from either an increase in members’ and government contributions, a sustained and sharp increase in investment income, and outright government subsidy or a combination of these items.
On the other hand, the position of the proponents of the pension increase and critics of the presidential veto is that the projections of the SSS actuaries are wrong and that the system will be able to continue dispensing its pension and other benefits without a danger of SSS fund depletion. They say that SSS management is forever crying “wolf” when the subject of an increase in benefits comes up, yet the system has remained sound and viable. SSS management is once again crying “wolf” under a similar scenario, they say.
Both sides of the issue—Pnoy on one side and Congress, the SSS members and their other supporters on the other side —cannot be right. Either the SSS actuaries’ estimates—that the SSS fund could be depleted in t13 years time if higher pensions are paid by the system with no compensating changes on the fund’s resources side – are correct or they are being overly cautious. They cannot be both.
Although I would welcome a P2,000 increase in my pension, I am prepared to go with the SSS actuaries’ and their estimates. I believe that those gentlemen personally have nothing to gain from advising SSS management (and Malacañang) against a pension increase under present circumstances. I believe further that they have merely been deploying their actuarial skills for the long-term good of the system.
SSS management has presented proof— in the form of actuarial calculations—to support a judgment that there should be no pension increase under the present set of operating circumstances. The burden of proof has now shifted to the other side of the issue. Congress, the SSS members and other supporters of an increase have to offer proof, not mere opinions and unsupported sentiments, that PNoy Aquino was wrong and that an increase in SSS members’ pensions is justified.
E-mail: rudyromero777@yahoo.com