SSS says end-Sept unemployment benefits further rose to P866.9M for 67,937 jobless members

The SSS main office in Quezon City (File photo from the Philippine Daily Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines—The state-run pension fund Social Security System (SSS) has released P866.9 million in unemployment benefits from January to September for its members who lost their jobs amid the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

In a statement on Thursday, the SSS said the end-September unemployment benefits it disbursed covered 67,937 affected members.

As of Friday, the SSS did not reply to a query on the year-on-year comparison of unemployment benefit disbursements.

To recall, the SSS last August said the end-June unemployment benefits it released amounting to P732.2 million were 407-percent bigger compared to a year ago levels, while the 54,282 beneficiaries were 355-percent larger.

“We fully understand the plight of our private-sector workers who have been laid off from their jobs. With this milestone benefit, we remain committed to providing financial aid amid the pandemic,” SSS president and chief executive Aurora Cruz-Ignacio said.

Under Republic Act (RA) No. 11199 or the Social Security Act of 2018, the SSS releases unemployment benefits worth half of a member’s average monthly salary credit during a two-month period.

“With the inclusion of the unemployment benefit application in the e-services tab of the My.SSS portal, involuntary separated members have a more convenient option to submit their application online,” Ignacio said.

The Philippines’ unemployment rate climbed to 8.9 percent in September, the highest this year, equivalent to 4.3 million jobless Filipinos mainly due to job losses in the seasonal and weather-vulnerable agriculture sector.