After subjecting the Social Security System in recent months to mass protests and complaints for its inadequate pensions and poor service delivery, we expected Finance Secretary Sonny Dominguez to prescribe a drastic regimen for SSS to implement when he delivered his keynote address at the agency’s 59th anniversary program.
We expected from him something close to the “Oplan Tokhang” that Philippine National Police chief Ronald “Bato” dela Rosa is currently waging in our nation’s war against illegal drugs.
Instead, the Secretary merely suggested politely to his host SSS officials to “intensify its campaign to inform members and the rest of the public on the value of SSS coverage and the various aspects of the pension fund’s operations.”
Someone must have given him as alibi for the SSS pension inadequacy the public inclination “to pay less” but “derive more benefits,” which consequently has “shortened the actuarial life of the fund.”
Certainly not joking, he even exhorted them to “constantly educate the public about the advantages of coverage, the wisdom of the institution’s investments, and the need to adjust contributions from time to time.”
He must have also noted that despite President Duterte’s issuance last July 24 of the Freedom of Information executive order, SSS officials have yet to release its 2015 Annual Report.
To say the least, we pensioners were disappointed with the Secretary’s extra-light dosage of a palliative pill to a sick SSS, the effect of which would only be felt—at best—far in the future.
He should have instructed its officials to immediately grant the P2,000 pension increase that we pensioners now badly need and to initiate the appropriate actuarial measures to support it.
After all, that September 2 was the first SSS anniversary celebration under President Duterte’s administration, and a more compelling message was expected from a trusted alter ego of the maverick President.
Besides, SSS has already been spending millions of pesos annually, educating the public about social security through regular seminars and nationwide radio, television and newsprint advertisements in the past 59 years.
Who still need to be educated about the advantages of SSS coverage?
Not those who have paid P110 once and are now entitled to a funeral expense benefit of P20,000. Maybe, they could be convinced to persevere contributing in the next 120 months even if they would only receive a monthly pension of P1,200?
Have SSS officials developed the appropriate educational messages other than the catchy slogans that boast of SSS as an institution that workers can depend on in times of need despite the inadequacy of its pensions to even buy decent meals for its pensioners?
How would “the wisdom of the institution’s investments” be conveyed?
On its 59th anniversary, SSS officials could only announce that they were going to “hire three fund managers before the end of the year to handle its pension fund.”
To “test the waters,” they would “tap fund managers for P3 billion out of the SSS’ close to P450-billion pension fund.”
As admitted by its president,
“All this time, we have been managing our funds in-house; it’s important that you look at what other fund managers are doing. You’re able to compare your performance against the industry so you’ll know what strategies they are doing differently from what we’re doing; so, it’s a win-win situation.”
Surely, this is not the SSS investment wisdom that the Secretary wants us to get educated about. He should have told SSS officials there and then that while they are still learning the fundamentals of investing our social security funds, they are better off reverting to government securities investments only.
And who should be educated about its need “to adjust contributions from time to time?”
The “public” that wants to pay less and derive more benefits couldn’t be the workers and self-employed individuals. They know that they only pay less than half of total contributions. They also know that their public sector counterparts pay higher contributions and thus receive higher pensions. They, too, are willing to contribute more in order to receive more benefits.
In fact, the polite Secretary should have named in his keynote address the employers as the “public” that had been resisting the raise in contributions. But he probably wanted to avoid any untimely and unnecessary quarrel with his host employer representatives, who were then present as members of the SSS policymaking and governing board, the Commission.
In that board, both employer and worker sectors are equally represented: Three members each, with the labor secretary sitting additionally to protect the workers’ interests.
The two other members—the SSS president and Commission chairman—are supposed to represent the neutral public. But they have always worked for Makati employers and this previous connection have consequently made them pro-employer.
Dominated and controlled by pro-employer members, the Commission has thus been always the first to shoot down any proposal to raise contributions.
Obviously, no initiative to raise pensions now and contributions later would ever prosper by simply intensifying the SSS’ educational and information campaign.
An equivalent Oplan Tokhang for SSS has to be implemented first.