Villar backs bill granting P2,000 hike in SSS pension

MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Cynthia Villar sponsored yesterday a bill seeking to grant P2,000 across-the-board increase in the pension of Social Security System (SSS) members.

Villar, chairman of the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises, said some 1.9 million SSS pensioners would benefit from the measure.

“It is a sad reality that a majority of retired workers in the country rely solely on their monthly SSS pension for their upkeep. On a daily basis, it would barely cover for their sustenance and that is not even enough for their food,” she said.

“We must consider that many of them, given their old age, may have maintenance medicine and special requirements that add to their daily expenses,” she added.

Villar opposed the proposal of SSS to increase members’ contribution from 11 percent to 15 percent to fund the pension hike up to 2042.

“SSS has billions of unremitted collections and uncollected premiums. They should improve their collection efforts first before thinking of increasing members’ contribution,” she said.

Gov’t subsidy pushed 

Villar said SSS pensioners should receive subsidy from the government since the proposed pension hike will amount only to P49 billion as opposed to the P62.6-billion budget for the conditional cash transfer program.

“I think retired workers deserve subsidy from the government, in the same way CCT recipients do,” she said.

Villar, a stalwart of the Nacionalista Party, pointed out that the monthly pension of retirees is almost comparable to the subsidy given to the poor under the CCT, which translates to P1,400 a month.

Villar urged her colleagues to forgo amendments to the measure and simply adopt the version passed by the House of Representatives.