MANILA -- Only through the direct intervension of President Rodrigo Duterte by way of an executive order (EO) or through an act of Congress amending the Social Security Law of 1997 can pensioners hope to receive the one thousand peso monthly pension hike promised them early last year.
In a press statement Thursday, Social Security System (SSS) president and chief executive officer Emmanuel Dooc said that his office has neither the resources nor the legal mandate to simply hand out the pension increase despite the clamor of pensioners.
"We do not have the capability to give the P1,000 additional benefits next year. The SSC does not have the power to adjust the amount of monthly contributions or the amount of monthly pension. Only the president and Congress can approve a pension increase, Dooc said in Filipino.
President Duterte announced in January 2017 that he had given the go-signal for a P2,000 monthly pension hike, the first tranch of which was immediately implemented. The balance of P1,000 is supposed to be implemented by 2022 after the SSS has devised the mechanisms necessary to make it possible.
Dooc explained that the SSS released some P33-billion just to make good on the first tranch of the pension hike in 2017. A much bigger amount is needed for the second tranch as the number of SSS pensioners increases by about 100,000 annually, he added. (PR)
