After some delay, pensioners of the Social Security System (SSS) will finally receive their Php1,000 pension hike starting today, March 3.
Around Php2 billion has been released to its pensioners for the month of January 2017 as part of the increase, revealed SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel Dooc; however, since a lot of pensioners are added or subtracted each month, the SSS won’t be able to pay the retroactive amounts at one go.
So, the first Php1,000 will be released on March 3, the second will be on March 10, and the last release will be on March 17.
Dooc said, “We are pleased to announce to our pensioners that the P1,000 additional benefit is now ready for withdrawal in their respective bank accounts while the remaining retroactive amount will be received in the next two Fridays of March (10 and 17).”
The CEO also promised, “The SSS will continue to find ways to make our pension fund viable so it can continuously serve its current and future members in perpetuity.”
It can be recalled that President Rodrigo Duterte approved the across-the-board Php1,000 increase in the pensioners’ monthly pension for the country’s 2.2 million retirees last January; however, the order authorizing the release was only signed on February 22.
But while the pensioners are rejoicing over the increase, a lot of active members are unhappy because they are going to bear the brunt of the budget allocation because they are facing an increase in the monthly premiums, estimated to rise by 1.5 percentage points or an increase of about 12.5 percent in the monthly salary credit.