Arroyo wants mandatory SSS coverage of OFWs

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo instructed the Social Security System on Monday to expand its membership base by covering all overseas Filipino workers.
Currently, OFWs are covered by the SSS on a voluntary basis. Documented workers overseas are estimated at more than eight million.
In a speech marking the pension agency’s 50th founding anniversary, the President said OFWs should be included in its roster of more than 27 million members by making their coverage mandatory.
SSS members regularly paying their monthly contributions may be entitled to benefits such as death, disability, maternity (for females), retirement, sickness, funeral, medical care, 13th month pension and dependent’s pension.
Members can also apply for loans for salary, educational, calamity, housing, stock investment, privatization, livelihood lending and other business loans.
During the anniversary rites at the agency’s main office in East Avenue in Quezon City, Mrs Arroyo also directed the SSS executives to extend its housing loan condonation program by another six months as part of what she called as social payback of government reform programs.
The condonation scheme, the President said, has already benefited 6,000 SSS members.
In the past several years, the SSS, together with other government revenue agencies, has implemented various reforms that resulted in higher collections, with the SSS providing more benefits and making sound investments.
Some six years ago, the President said the SSS was facing financial collapse with its actuarial life forecast at 2015.
The President said SSS assets now have ballooned to P248 billion and its investment income in the last six months alone has already reached P15.58 billion.
“New revenues, including increases in contributions for SSS, better collection and a crackdown on remittance cheats along with fiscal discipline has put the SSS and the Philippines on a path to permanent, sustainable economic growth and stability," she cited.
Also as part of its anniversary present to the Filipino worker, the President said SSS has increased the members' pensions twice in the last 12 months -- 10 percent in September last year and another 10 percent last month.
The President thanked the SSS for recently providing the P1 billion special window for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) which, she said, are the biggest job generators in the country.
"Thanks to the SSS and other outstanding institutions, the rate of poverty is down, employment is up and our education and healthcare services to the poor vastly improved," she said. - GMANews.TV

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