MANILA, Philippines Isusulong pa rin ni Bayan Muna Rep.

Neri Colmenares ang mas mataas na

pension sa Social Security System bagaman pinagtibay na sa committee level ang inakda niyang House
Bill 175 na nagtatadhana ng P2,000 pension increase across the board.
Ibig sabihin nito, ang mga tumatanggap ng basic P1,200 pension per month ay makakatanggap ngayon
ng P3,200 kung pinal na papasa at magiging ganap na batas ang version na ito ng bill. Lahat ng
sumusunod na pension bracket ay magkakaroon din ng dagdag na P2,000. Isa itong magandang
kaganapan pero isusulong pa rin namin ang mas mataas pang benepisyo para sa mga SSS pensioner,
sabi ni House Senior Deputy Minority Leader Colmenares.
Sana ay magkasama nating maisulong ang mas mabilis na pagpapatibay sa HB175 bago magbakasyon
ang Kongreso sa Hunyo 11, sabi pa ni Colmenares.
Noong nakaraang taon, makaraang sumang-ayon kay Colmenares sa isang pagdinig sa Kongreso na
napakaliit ng kanilang pension, napilitan ang SSS na ipatupad ang 5 percent across-the-board pension
increase para sa 1.9 million pensioners nito na binayaran simula noong Agosto.
Bagaman mas mababa pa sa P5,000 minimum pension na ipinanukala namin sa HB 175, isa nang
magandang simula ang dagdag na P2,000 pension at sana ay bigyang-prayoridad ng liderato ng House
ang pagpasa ng panukalang-batas na ito bago ito magbakasyon, sabi pa ng solon.

Source: http://www.philstar.com/bansa/2015/06/01/1460878/sss-pension-hikepinamamadali-sa-kongreso

MANILA, Philippines - Vice Presidential bet and Senate Majority Floor Leader Alan Peter Cayetano on
Friday said he would lead legislators in overriding President Benigno Aquino IIIs veto on a bill which
seeks a P2,000 across-the-board increase in the Social Security System (SSS) monthly pensions.
"It is time for Congress to stand up for our millions of pensioners and give them the pension that they
need. We must stand up against the executive's awesome powers and ensure the passage of important
laws that will help alleviate the lives of our people and show that we are the people's voice and not just a
rubber stamp of Malacaang," Cayetano said in a statement.
Cayetano said social security is meant to help pensioners after their retirement cope with the costs of
living without their regular salaries.
"But what good is social security if what they get is so low that it cannot even meet their barest needs?"
he said.
It was earlier reported that the president had also vetoed or blocked several social legislation such as the
Magna Carta for the poor and the lowering of income tax rates for working Filipinos.

"Wala pong personal o pulitika dito. Pinaglalaban po namin ang milyong milyong pensioners
nakailangang kailangan itong 2,000 pesos na ito para sa pang araw-araw nilang pamumuhay." Cayetano
said.

Headlines ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1

Cayetano also vowed to lead the charge in mobilizing the legislature to override Aquino's veto. He said
the legislative will require two-thirds vote of the House and Senate, voting separately.
"For the sake of our struggling people, I will do everything in my power to counter this veto. It is an uphill
battle but a fight that must be waged nonetheless. We owe it to the people especially the vulnerable such
as the elderly, the sick and the unemployed who are at the bottom barrel. Sobra-sobra na ang hirap nila,"
Cayetano said.
In his veto message, the president explained that the stability of the entire benefit system will be
seriously compromised if the proposed pension hike is implemented.
Cayetano, however, said the presidents fear was based on wrong assumptions. The senator explained
that the SSS should institutionalize long overdue reforms like increasing its rate of contribution collections
and expanding its investment reserves.
Cayetano said if elected in the 2016 polls, he and his running mate Davao City Mayor Rodrigo "Rody"
Duterte will prioritize the pension hike of SSS members and look into the Government Service and
Insurance System (GSIS) and Pagibig to upgrade and improve welfare of members and also exempt
workers earning P20,000 pesos and below from income taxes.

Source: http://www.philstar.com/headlines/2016/01/15/1542892/cayetano-lead-vetooverride-sss-pension-hike

KUMPIYANSA ang isang solon na isusulong ng Senado ang P2,000 across-the-board increase sa
pensyon ng 1.9-milyong kasapi ng Social Security System (SSS).
Ayon kay Sen. Cynthia Villar, Chairman ng Senate Committee on Government Corporations and
Public Enterprises, kabilang sa priority legislations na pagbalik ng sesyon ang House Bill No. 5842
na inaamyendahan ang Section 12 ng Republic Act 1161 o ang Social Security Act of 1997.
We will have the votes. Majority of senators support this measure because we all believe that what
our pensioners receive after working for 20 years or more, is definitely inadequate and not sufficient
to cover the rising cost of living, aniya.
Si Villar ang pangunahing may-akda ng panukalang batas na nasa ikalawang pagdinig. Co-sponsors
nito sina Senate President Pro Tempore Ralph Recto, Senators Teofisto Guingona III, Francis

Escudero, Ramon Revilla, Jr., at JV Ejercito. Sina Senators Ferdinand Marcos, Jr., Jinggoy Estrada,
at Antonio Trillanes IV ay naghain din ng katulad na batas.
Noong Hunyo, ipinasa ito sa pangatlong pagbasa sa House of Representatives.
Mabibiyayaan sa pagtaas ng pensyon ang SSS pensioners na nagtrabaho at nag-remit ng premiums
sa loob ng 10- 20 taon.
Ang minimum na pensyon ay P1,200 para sa mga kasapi na may di bababa sa 10 credited years of
service at P2,400 sa 20 credited years of service.
Noong April 2015, ang average pension ay P3,169. LINDA BOHOL

Source: http://www.remate.ph/2015/11/sen-villar-umaasang-maaprubahan-angp2000-sss-pension-hike/

In a rather rare opportunity at the Senate, Senate President Franklin Drilon and Senate minority leader
Juan Ponce Enrile share a common stand this time on their opposition to the proposals to increase by
2,000 pesos of Social Security System (SSS) pensioners.
Akoy hindi tutol dun sa pagtaas ng pensyon. Ngunit gawan natin ng paraan na hindi naman
maapektuhan ang SSS dahilan sa P49-billion na taon taon ang gagastusin at taon taon ang SSS ay
kumikita lamang ng P45-billion kaya ang lalabas ay lugi ng P4B every year. Kaya in 13 years time baka
magsara ang SSS, Drilon said on Thursday (October 1, 2015).
Drilon sided with Enrile, who manifested last Wednesday his reasons why he is not agreeable to House
Bill 5842, which will increase by P 2,000 the current pension of SSS retirees. The House version has
been adopted in toto by the Senate and is now under period of interpellation at the Senate.
Kahapon si Sen. Enrile, binasa ni Sen. Binay ang kanyang mga concerns at sang ayon kay Sen. Enrile,
sa 13 taon ay baka magsara ang SSS. Kawawa naman yung mahigit 30-million members na
maapektuhan, the Senate chief said.
Drilon said he sees the wisdom on Enriles manifestation because the Senate cannot approve the
measure that might put the SSS into bankruptcy.

Source: http://politics.com.ph/drilon-says-p2k-pension-hike-will-drive-sss-out-ofbusiness/

The Aquino government has allocated P7.51 billion next year for the P500 monthly allowance of up to 1.2 million
indigent senior citizens.

image: http://www.mb.com.ph/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/18seniorCitizenXmasGift.jpg
Senior Citizens at Barangay Capitol Site in Cebu City. (Photo courtesy of Juan Carlo de Vela)
House Deputy Minority Leader and LPG-MA Rep. Arnel Ty said those who will benefit from the funding are senior
citizens listed under the Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction.
While small, the allowance nonetheless provides a lifeline to extremely poor senior citizens who are not getting any
pension either from the Social Security System or the Government Service Insurance System, and who are receiving
little or no help from their families or relatives, he said in a statement.
He noted that the monthly pension for destitute senior citizens is on top of the mandatory discounts on purchases of
goods and services and other benefits that all Filipinos who are 60 years old and above enjoy under the Expanded
Senior Citizens Law, or Republic Act 9994.
The Expanded Senior Citizens Law of 2010 provides for the P500 monthly stipend of poverty-stricken senior citizens,
especially those who are frail, sickly, or have disability, as well as those who do not have a permanent or regular
source of income or financial support, Ty said.
He noted that next years allocation for the Social Pension Program for Indigent Senior Citizens (SPPISC) is P1.55billion more, a 26 percent-increase from this years SPPISC funding of P5.96-billion, which is meant to pay for the
pensions of up to 897,482 qualified beneficiaries.
Ty asked the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) which operates the SPPISC that they should
ensure that all targeted senior citizens promptly receive their monthly pension, and that nobody gets left behind, Ty
said after the Office of Vice President Jejomar Binay lashed at the DSWD for the non-payment of the pensions of
more than 55,000 listed indigent senior citizens in 2014.
The OVP claimed that a total of 55,496 impoverished senior citizens in Metro Manila, Bicol, Western Visayas, Eastern
Visayas, SOCCSKSARGEN and Caraga did not receive their pensions amounting to P335.738 million in 2014, citing
a Commission on Audit (COA) report.
The failure of the DSWD to distribute the money to our senior citizens defeated the purpose of the SPPISC, which
was supposed to help make life better for the elderly who are very close to the Vice Presidents heart, Binays office
said in a statement.

Read more at http://www.mb.com.ph/p7-5b-earmarked-for-p500-monthly-pension-of-indigent-seniorcitizens/#29X1IsMrTlF5vDb6.99

Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/p7-5b-earmarked-for-p500-monthly-pension-of-

indigent-senior-citizens/

Senate minority leader Juan Ponce Enrile has warned today (Sept. 30, 2015) that the Social Security
System (SSS) will go bankrupt in 10 years once Congress passes the bill that aims to increase pension
by 2,000 pesos.
House Bill 5842 will undoubtedly shorten the fund life of the SSS by 13 years from the original
projection of 2042 to 2029, he added, referring to the bill which is now under period of interpellations
at the Senate. The Senate has adopted the House version in a bid to speed up the approval of the
measure.
If SSS will not impose any increase in the premium contribution of its members, Enrile maintained the
SSS will have no recourse to fund its deficit from the social security fund.
The difference in the projected funds to projected benefits will increase from 1.6-trillion to 2.7-trillion
based on current valuations. Evidently, 2029 is a decade away. But the very delicate question that we
must consider is how do we responsibly address the needs of our present constituents while protecting
the welfare generations?, Enrile said.
It was Sen. Nancy Binay who presented Enriles manifestation on the floor on Wednesday because the
minority leader has been absent after he contracted dengue early this month.
Once passed into law, Enrile said the proposal will require an additional outlay of 49.4-billion a year
computed in 13-month basis.
Although it will benefit about 1.9-million SSS pensioners, Enrile said there is not enough funds to
finance the additional pension rates.
For 2014, Enrile noted that SSS had a the total revenue of 44.5-billion. The amount is not even enough
to cover the P 49-billion requirement to form the increase in pension, the 91-year old senator said.
Enriles move prompted the Senate leadership to suspend consideration of the measure which is being
pushed for approval by Sen. Cynthia Villar.

Source: http://politics.com.ph/ailing-enrile-blocks-approval-of-bill-increasing-ssspension/