SSS contributions rose by nearly 10% in 2013

Contributions to the Social Security System (SSS) rose by nearly 10 percent last year, hitting the P100-billion mark for the first time in the pension fund’s history as its membership grew.

In a statement issued Friday, the SSS said it collected P103.1 billion in contributions in 2013—up year-on-year by 9.5 percent.

The increase in contributions last year came about just as the pension fund established more branches here and abroad.

The enactment of the Domestic Workers Act, more popularly known as the “Kasambahay” Law, also helped raise the Social Security System’s collections.

Under the law, which was signed by President Aquino in January last year, domestic workers should be paid the minimum wage. They are also entitled to paid leaves, and must be covered by the insurance services of Philhealth and the Social Security System.

“The increase in collections was bolstered by the ongoing campaign to promote the value of active SSS membership [and] improved monitoring of employer compliance,” SSS vice president Catherine Ciriaco said in a statement.

Efforts to tap potential members from the informal sector and among overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) also helped boost the collection of contributions, said Ciriaco, who is in charge of the Social Security System’s planning and management services.

The pension fund has partnered with cooperatives, microfinance institutions, and other organizations to help increase its membership, Ciriaco added.

The number of SSS-registered employers hit 911,894 last year—51 percent higher year-on-year.

SSS individual members reached 30.6 million—up by 4 percent.

The state-run pension fund credited the rise in contributions for the increase in its total revenues.

Contributions accounted for three-fourths of the Social Security System’s revenues. The balance is accounted for by income from investments.

Total revenues rose by 7 percent to P137.4 billion.

Investment income alone grew by 1.2 percent to P34.3 billion. The SSS has investments in stocks across a wide range of sectors and in government securities.

With expenditures reaching P99.1 billion, net revenue of the SSS amounted to P38.3 billion.

This marked a 6-percent increase from that recorded the previous year.

Expenditures, composed largely of benefit payments and partly by operation expenses, increased by 8 percent to P99.1 billion.

The SSS said the increase in expenditures was solely due to higher benefit payments, adding that operation expenses, which accounted for P7.6 billion of the total, actually dropped by one percent.

The SSS credited its Annual Confirmation of Pensioners (ACOP) program for the manageable increase in expenditures.

Under the program, pensioners are required to visit SSS branches or accredited banks during their birth months to prove their continued eligibility to receive benefits.

Assets of the SSS—composed of funds invested in equities and fixed-income securities, cash and real properties—were valued at P384.6 billion as of the end of last year—6 percent higher than that of the previous year.