No definite date yet for 2nd P1,000 pension hike —SSS official

There is no definite date yet for the release of the second tranche of the monthly pension hike for members of the Social Security System (SSS), an official of the agency clarified Saturday.

“Wala pang klaro kung kailan 'yung second tranche. It will depend on a lot of factors,” SSS Commissioner Jose Gabriel La Viña said in a weekly media forum in Quezon City.

La Viña’s pronouncement came following SSS Chairman Amado Valdez’s statement that President Rodrigo Duterte has approved another P1,000 pension hike in 2022 or earlier, if the agency's internal reforms will bear fruit.

This is on top of the P1,000 pension hike that SSS members will start receiving this month.

La Viña said the implementation of another P1,000 pension hike will depend on the ability of the SSS to collect contributions effectively and the laws that will be passed that may affect the pension hike.

“It will depend on our ability, for example, to collect more effectively. It will depend on our ability to come up with reforms in the law, which is not within our control, but within the control of Congress,” La Viña explained.

To make the initial pension hike possible, a 1.5-percent increase in premiums of active members will be implemented by May.

This will increase the contribution rate from 11 percent to 12.5 percent to be shared by employers and employees.

The maximum monthly salary credit will also increase to P20,000 from the current P16,000.

La Viña said Congress wants the second tranche to be released by 2019,  but if the SSS were to be followed, “the sooner, the better.”

“What will actually happen, that will now be the result of our upfront performance and what are the negotiations, what are the laws that will be passed,” La Viña said. —ALG, GMA News