Over 25,000 workers in the informal sector to benefit from SSS-ASHI agreement



            The Social Security System (SSS) strengthened its campaign to widen SSS coverage among the self-employed and the “hard-to-reach” informal sector after it signed an agreement providing SSS coverage and services to over 25,000 women entrepreneurs of Ahon sa Hirap, Inc. (ASHI) based in southern Luzon and Visayas.
            SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. said the pension fund’s new partnership with ASHI, a microfinance institution that assists self-employed women from poor families, will make it easier for ASHI members to apply for SSS membership, loans and benefits.
         “The SSS shares ASHI’s goal of helping alleviate poverty through financial assistance. As covered SSS members, women workers from ASHI can save for their retirement and avail themselves of SSS benefits during times of sickness, maternity, disability, old age and death,” he added.
            De Quiros and ASHI President Mila Mercado-Bunker signed the memorandum of agreement as part of ASHI’s 22nd anniversary celebration held at Morong, Rizal on May 17. Some 1,000 attendees from ASHI’s 21 branches in Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Antique and Aklan also witnessed the event.
            ASHI is the 4th accredited SSS servicing partner agent after the Deep Well Sumulong Irrigators Association in Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija; Simbag sa Pag-asenso, Inc. in Legazpi City, Albay; and CARD Inc. in Bay, Laguna signed similar agreements within the first quarter of 2013.
“We will continue to pursue more tie-ups with organized groups so that we can bring SSS services within reach of more workers, especially those from the informal sector. We are heartened by the interest showed by various groups across the country to partner with SSS for the social security coverage of their members,” de Quiros said, adding that several groups are already lined up for SSS accreditation.
            An SSS servicing partner agent is authorized to designate representatives from its organization who can receive its members’ applications for SSS registration, salary loans and funeral benefits, which lessens the need of workers to go to an SSS office for these transactions.
            “In return, we pay our partner agents a processing fee for every approved SSS transaction, which they can then use to enhance their services for the benefit of their membership,” de Quiros said. “We also provide them training so that their designated representatives are well-informed on how to carry out their SSS duties.”
            The SSS expects to cover 90 percent of the total 27,300 ASHI members. Established in 1991 as a non-stock, non-profit and non-g

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

PCG: China’s bullying in West Philippine Sea undermines international law --- Ghio Ong - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — Letting China sustain its aggression in the West Philippine Sea would make other countries doubt the strength of international law currently being asserted by the Philippines, Commodore Jay Tarriela of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said. “Allowing China to blatantly disregard the established rules-based order threatens the very foundation that we all depend on,” he wrote in a post on X last Tuesday. He added, “If we permit this, countries worldwide may forget why this order was created in the first place. Nations could begin to doubt the significance of adhering to international law if powerful bullies can easily violate it.” Tarriela also said defiance of other countries to a rules-based order would result in the prevalence of cruelty. He wrote, “This could lead us back to a time when might makes right, undermining the global structures that keep human greed, savagery and barbarism in check. Such a scenario would not only invite challenges from aggressive ...
Read more

China ships maintain presence in key West Philippine Sea areas --- Michael Punongbayan - The Philippine Star

STAR / Michael Varcas MANILA, Philippines — While Chinese vessels in the West Philippine Sea (WPS) have decreased in number, they have maintained a presence in three key land features where naval and coast guard ships have intensified operations in the past seven days, according to the Philippine Navy. Latest monitoring by the Philippine Navy showed armed ships of the People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) maintaining a menacing presence around the grounded BRP Sierra Madre in Ayungin Shoal, Panatag Shoal and Escoda Shoal. According to the Philippine Navy, there are 17 Chinese military vessels and 28 China Coast Guard (CCG) boats spotted inside the country’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ) between Sept. 23 and 30, or one vessel more than in the previous week Sept.17-23. Five of the warships were seen roaming around the vicinity of Escoda Shoal, along with 10 CCG vessels and 12 maritime militia vessels (MMVs). There are also two PLAN ships in Ayungin Shoal as well as 10 CCG boats and 12...
Read more

Social media seen as cause of rising intermarriages --- Helen Flores - The Philippine Star

MANILA, Philippines — The Commission on Filipinos Overseas (CFO) sees social media as the main reason for the rising number of Filipinos marrying or becoming partners of foreign nationals. In 2022, the CFO recorded 6,854 marriages or partnerships with foreign nationals, a 40.1 percent increase from the 4,891 “intermarriages” recorded in 2021. “First of all, what we see in the increase in the marriage rate of Filipinos or Filipinos with foreign partners is because of social media, (that) is number one; matchings; letters, introduction of their friends,” CFO chairperson Romulo Arugay said at the Bagong Pilipinas Ngayon public briefing yesterday. Arugay said the agency has been registering a high number of intermarriages since 2007, but the figures went down during the COVID-19 pandemic. From over 6,500 Filipinos who married foreign nationals, only 600 are men, he said. Most of them are married to Americans, Japanese, Germans, Canadians and Australians, Arugay said. Arugay warned Fi...
Read more