SSC welcomes House probe on stock trading

MANILA, Philippines — The Social Security Commission (SSC), the policy making body of the Social Security System (SSS), yesterday welcomed the probe to be conducted by the House of Representatives on the stock trading controversy involving four of its top officials.

In a statement, SSC chairman Amado Valdez said the congressional probe, as well as any investigations to be done by any third-party institutions, would support the commission’s house cleaning efforts in the state pension fund.

Besides identifying the probable guilt of the respondents, Valdez said the investigation would also help the SSS in fine tuning its investment policies.

To recall, SSS commissioner Jose Gabriel La Viña has filed an administrative complaint against SSS executive vice president Rizaldy Capulong, equities investment division chief Reginald Candelaria, and equities product development head Ernesto Francisco Jr. for allegedly trading stocks using information acquired from an SSS-accredited stockbroker.

SSS chief actuary George Ongkeko Jr. was also named in the complaint for allegedly neglecting his duties and failing to provide records of the others’ business transactions, La Viña said.

Valdez said a committee investigating the matter has already issued show cause orders to the involved officials.

He said the committee is evaluating the responses submitted by Capulong, Candelaria, Francisco, and Ongkeko.

“The Commission gave the respondents ample time to respond in compliance with due process,” Valdez said.

Valdez had said the accusations against the four officials suggest conflict of interest, which would not be tolerated in the SSS.

If proven guilty, Valdez had said the penalty could range from reprimand to suspension up to dismissal from the office. He said the Securities and Exchange Commision (SEC) could also become involved if some licenses would need to be suspended.

Meanwhile, Valdez said the “SSC looks at Congress as its guide in making the SSS more beneficial to its more than 35 million members.”

“Thus, the reform agenda for the 20-year old charter of the SSC, which is seen as the future of the SSS, is now in the hands of the lawmakers,” he added.

Currently, the Social Security Reform Act, which seeks to amend the SSS Charter, is being deliberated at the committee level in the Senate.