P1,000 SSS pension increase pushed

Congress is unlikely to override President Benigno Aquino III's veto of the bill mandating a P2,000 increase in monthly pension for retired Social Security System members.

House of Representatives Speaker Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is instead pushing to increase the monthly pension of retired members by P1,000, which he called a compromise number.

Senate President Franklin Drilon, for his part, says any override would need to start at the House.

"Under Section 27, Article 6 of the Constitution and under the rules of the Senate, the override must be initiated by the chamber where the bill originated. And in this particular case, it is the House where this bill originated. Therefore, any move to override must start from the House and we cannot act on it until the House would take action," he said.

"The SSS pension bill originated from the House of Representatives and, therefore, the initiative to override the bill, which requires two-thirds votes, must come from the House. On the basis of the present number of the House, I would estimate that will be about 190," he added.

Belmonte and Drilon are both pushing for executive action to provide the increase in members' pension. A P1,000-increase can be done by the SSS board without congressional approval, they both noted.

"The Social Security Commission has enough leeway to act or to work on it. Under the charter, they are authorized to increase the benefits and the same will be effective upon the approval of the President," said Drilon.

Second bill

But Belmonte is also pushing for the passage of a measure expanding the pension fund's power to increase its members’ premium contributions.

"I will write the President and the SSS as well na – and I have mentioned this to Senate President [Franklin] Drilon – ipasa na ninyo 'yung second bill and huwag P500 ‘yung ibigay natin. It should be P1,000 at least," Belmonte told reporters Monday.

Senate approval of House Bill 6112 giving the SSS board authority to raise its members’ premium contribution is essential to enable the pension fund to recover the money for increasing the pension, said Belmonte.

The House passed the measure but failed to hurdle the Senate.

"Definitely, there's a money coming out without recovery. Pero they (SSS) have greater authority to recover it through increased pension, through changing some limitations that exist now in the SSS law, and so forth," he said.

Belmonte said he had Drilon's commitment to try his best to have the Senate counterpart of HB 6112 approved in the remaining nine session days before Congress adjourns on February 5.

Michael Victor Alimurung, SSS Commissioner representative to the general public, said any increase in pension would need to have a corresponding hike in contributions.

"Madali ho magbigay pero may katapat yan na contribution increase. Kung may katapat 'yan na increase, walang problema," Alimurung said.

SSS President and CEO Emilio S. de Quiros Jr. said the agency is still studying the implications of a smaller increase.

"Palagi po naming pinag-aaralan ang pension increase, pati na ang iba pang programa at benepisyo," de Quiros said.

"Pinag-aaralan pa kung pwedeng magbigay ng dagdag-pensyon at kung magkano ang kakayanin," he added.

Too timid

Belmonte, meanwhile, laid blame on SSS officials for not being more vocal about the issue while it was under deliberation in the legislature.

Given the importance of the pension hike bill, Belmonte said the SSS should have sent its top tier directors during the congressional hearings to underscore the importance of the consequences of such a move instead of relegating the task to their subordinates.

He said the pension fund should have been more forceful in asking Congress to expand its powers even before the clamor grew for a pension increase. There were opportunities for the SSS to push for greater authority when lawmakers were passing bills to make the GSIS more powerful.

The SSS is the pension fund for private sector employees, with the GSIS its counterpart for public sector workers.

"Yung SSS masyadong timid. During all those times na dini-discuss [yung bills tungkol sa GSIS], hindi man lang sinabay 'yung sa kanila. And then suddenly something like this comes up and they don't know what to do," said Belmonte, who once served as head of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

"They should have been more aggressive," he added. —with Jon Viktor Cabuenas and Amita Legaspi/VS/JST, GMA News