Senate approves P2 thousand increase on SSS monthly pension

The Senate of the Philippines has approved today the proposed across the board increase of PhP2,000 on monthly pension of over 1.9 Filipino pensioners of the Social Security System (SSS), the Senate said in a statement. House Bill 5842, also known as Social Security Act, seeks to amend Section 12 of Republic Act (RA) 1161 or the Social Security Act of 1997. The latest amendment to the law was 18 years ago under RA 8282.

The bill was approved by the Senate with 15 affirmative votes, one negative vote by Senate Minority Leader Juan Ponce Enrile and zero abstention. Enrile said he was against the bill because the granting of the “generous benefit” to SSS pensioners would eventually lead to the “bankruptcy of the SSS.”

“The passage of this bill is an early Christmas gift of the Senate to the SSS pensioners, who depend on these pensions for their daily expenses,” Senate President Franklin M. Drilon said.

“We must also consider that many of our retired workers, given their old age, have maintenance medicines and special requirements that add to their daily living expenses. Increasing their pension is the least we could do to reward them for decades of hardwork,” Senator Cynthia Villar said.

“In effect, those receiving the minimum pension of P1,200 per month will now receive P3,200 under this bill. The average SSS pensioner gets about P3,169 a month. If this bill becomes law, his pension will increase to P5,169,” Senate President Pro-Tempore Ralph Recto said.