SSS announces new payment schedule for self-employed individuals, farmers, fisherfolk

The Social Security System (SSS) on Wednesday announced a new contribution payment scheme for self-employed individuals which seeks to provide a more flexible schedule.

According to SSS president and chief executive officer Michael Regino, the new contribution payment schedule will allow the identified SSS members to pay for any of the last 12 months during the current month.

This would mean that self-employed SSS members — including farmers and fisherfolk — could pay the monthly contributions for October 2021 to September 2022 this month.

Under the previous payment scheme, members can only pay their monthly contributions for July to September 2022 until October 31, 2022.

“We saw that the current payment schedule for self-employed members, which also includes farmers and fisherfolk, is not suitable for them,” Regino said in an emailed statement.

“Our farmers and fisherfolk do not have a regular monthly income from their produce, unlike ordinary workers. They only get their earnings on a seasonal basis, so we devised this scheme that allows them to pay their SSS contributions for all months in a year,” he added.

Under its mandate, SSS provides social justice and provide protection to members and their families against the hazards of disability, sickness, maternity, old age, death, and other contingencies resulting in loss of income or financial burden.

Self-employed SSS members are entitled to benefits which cover sickness, maternity, retirement, disability, funeral, and death, along with loan programs which cover salary, calamity, and educational assistance.

“We want to help our farmers and fishermen to have social security coverage from SSS. They are among the most vulnerable members of our society,” Regino said.

“By offering them a flexible way of paying their SSS premiums, we provide them greater opportunity to pay social security contributions for all months of a year for full protection through the various benefit and loan programs of SSS,” he added.—Jon Viktor Cabuenas/AOL, GMA News