Skip to main content

SSS helps Samal farmers and fisherfolk save for retirement


DAVAO CITY --- Farmers and fisherfolk from an isolated area nearly two hours away from this city are set to secure their future retirement, after the Social Security System (SSS) introduced to them the AlkanSSSya program, an innovative scheme that makes saving daily for SSS benefits possible for informal sector workers.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. said almost a hundred farmers and fisherfolk from Brgy. San Remegio in Kaputian from the Island Garden City of Samal have already started their AlkanSSSya savings during the program’s launch on May 29.
De Quiros said many farmers and fisherfolk from Brgy. San Remegio expressed their willingness to become covered SSS members, but they are often hindered by the lack of accessible banks and payment facilities.

"Having few cemented roads in their area also makes it hard for them to go to our offices. But now, with the AlkanSSSya, the SSS will instead go to them once a month to count and collect their accumulated savings for SSS contributions," he added.

The new AlkanSSSya participants are members of the San Remegio Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative (SARBEMCO) and the San Remegio Fisherfolks Cooperative (SARFISHCO), which account for a combined total of 322 regular members and associates. Out of the total 200 members of SARBEMCO, 55 are now AlkanSSSya participants, while SARFISHCO has already enrolled 43 out of its 122 members and associates.

"AlkanSSSya members remit monthly premiums at least of P312, which has a corresponding monthly salary credit of P3,000. Just by saving about P10 to P12 each day, farmers and fisherfolks can already look forward to a secure future as active SSS members," de Quiros noted.

SSS Assistant Vice President for Southern Mindanao Division Emmanuel Palma, SSS Davao City Branch Head Jove Colasito, SARBEMCO President Joel Mamac and SARFISCO Chairman Ronie Aque signed the AlkanSSSya memorandum of agreement on May 29 to formalize the new partnership.

The AlkanSSSya unit for SARBEMCO and SARFISHCO, which is installed at the SARBEMCO office for easy accessibility, is a cabinet-like metal structure containing mini-compartments. Each member is assigned one slot in the AlkanSSSya unit, in which they can drop their daily SSS savings until the required amount for the SSS monthly contribution is completed.

"Majority of SARBEMCO and SARFISHCO members have never experienced being an SSS member," de Quiros said. "Others were already covered by SSS but have stopped paying contributions due to economic reasons. But the AlkanSSSya program now makes it possible for them to become active SSS members once again and to secure their and their families’ future."

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