MANILA, Philippines – The revenue collection of the state-run Social Security System (SSS) from members' contributions increased by almost 10% in the first 4 months of 2017, amid efforts to run after delinquent employers.
SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Dooc said contribution collections from January to April rose to P52.18 billion, from the P47.59 billion in the same period last year.
Collections in January registered the highest growth at 13.9% to P13.55 billion, followed by the performance in February at 12% growth to P12.86 billion.
March and April collections also showed positive growth at 7% to P13.14 billion, and 5.9% to P12.63 billion, respectively.
The pension fund said this was mainly driven by its aggressive contribution collection drive, as it went after violators of Republic Act 8282 or the Social Security Act of 1997. (READ: Why raising SSS pensions isn't that simple)
Just recently, police arrested the owner of a security agency with delinquencies totaling more than P180,000.
The SSS has also submitted to Malacañang its proposed manual on Warrant of Distraint, Levy, and Garnishment (WDLG).
Under the proposed WDLG, the SSS will be able to seize real and personal properties as payment for unpaid contributions.
"We've also increased our presence to our members so they can easily reach us as we opened 3 new branches, 15 new service offices, and two foreign offices. We've also relocated 14 of our branches since [November 2016]," Dooc added.
The SSS also maintained it has enough reserves to fund the P1,000 pension increase approved by the Duterte administration.
"Our current contribution collection and investment income from last year is enough to finance the additional P1,000 benefit for pensioners so we assure the public that the pension fund remains strong and viable," said Dooc. – Rappler.com