SSS paid P20.6B in benefits in Q1

Members of the Social Security System received a total of P20.6 billion in pensions and other benefits in the first quarter of the year.

The amount represents a 7-percent increase from P19.2 billion a year ago.

SSS officer-in-charge Edgar Solilapsi said pension disbursements reached P14.2 billion, which was about 70 percent of the total benefit releases.

“The number of SSS pensioners swelled by more than 110,000 within the 12-month period ending in March this year,” Solilapsi said.

“More than half of them are retirement pensioners and about 47,000 are surviving spouses and dependent children of members,” Solilapsi added.

He said these recipients constituted 96 percent of the 1.56 million SSS pensioners.

The state-run agency also provides benefits for sickness, maternity, partial and total disability, retirement and death.

The SSS disbursed P1 billion for maternity claims and funeral grants and P517.9 million for sickness benefits, rehabilitation and medical services.

Solilapsi said lump sum payments for retirement, death and disability reached P4.2 billion.

Contributions determine the amount of benefits members and their beneficiaries receive.

Members who paid at least 120 monthly contributions are entitled to retirement pensions and those with a minimum of 36 monthly premiums are eligible for death and disability pensions.

Solilapsi reminded members of the new SSS payment deadlines, which take effect this month starting with payments due in June or the quarter ending in June.

Last month, the SSS announced that it was spreading out the schedule of deadlines for contribution and loan payments—which now depend on a certain digit in the members’ SSS number—to avoid long queues when paying.

Previously, employees must settle their obligations by the 10th day of the month while the self-employed and voluntary members must pay by the 20th.

The new system sets five particular days as deadline instead of the previous two days.

The revised deadlines are based on the 10th digit of the 13-digit employer number and the last digit of the 10-digit social security number of household employers, self-employed workers and voluntary members.