THE House of Representatives on Monday approved on third and final reading a bill authorizing the Social Security System to collect additional contributions from members even without the approval of the President.
Voting 227-7-1, the Lower House approved House Bill 2158 that seeks to amend the Social Security Act in light of the government’s plan to increase the monthly collection by 1.5 percent.
The bill, amending Republic Act No. 1161 and Republic Act No. 8282, otherwise known as the ‘Social Security Act of 1997,” shall allow the SSS board to increase contributions without having the need to seek approval from the Chief Executive.
HB 2158 was principally authored by Reps. Enrico Pineda and Mikee Romero of 1-Pacman party-list; Vilma Santos-Recto of Batangas, Evelina Escudero of Sorsogon, Rene Relampagos of Bohol and Jesus Sacdalan of North Cotabato.
The government’s decision to grant P1,000 across-the-board pension increase paved the way for the increase in monthly premium, raising the current contribution to 12.5 percent from 11 percent—an amount that will range from P15 to P740. The increase will take effect in May.
Bayan Muna party-list Rep. Carlos Zarate, a lawyer and one of the principal authors of the SSS pension hike, maintained that Section 4 of the Social Security Act of 1997 clearly states that an increase in benefits for SSS pensioners must not be subsidized by a concurrent increase in members’ premiums.
This developed as the Lower House adopted House Joint Resolution 10 on third and final reading by a vote of 233-1.
The joint resolution “expresses the sense of the House of Reprentatives” for the P2,000 across-the-board monthly increase in pension to be given in two tranches.
Under the joint resolution, the P2,000 shall be given in two tranches: the first tranche amounting to P1,000 shall be given starting this month; while the second tranche amounting to P1,000 shall be extended to the pensioners in December 2019.
About two million current and future SSS pensioners and their families stand to benefit from the proposal.