Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, November 2) — The Social Security System (SSS) assures its worried members their contributions are intact despite a controversy involving four of its executives.
SSS Chairman Dean Amado Valdez said investigation is ongoing, and the state-run pension fund’s 35 million members have nothing to worry about.
“Hindi apektado ang members’ contributions (Members’ contributions are not affected),” he said.
“SSS guarantees its members that the Investment Reserve Fund, which came from members’ contributions and investment income, is intact and well-protected,” the SSS said in a statement on Thursday.
Executive Vice President for Investments Rizaldy Capulong, Equities Investment Division Chief Reginald Candelaria, and Equities Product Development Head Ernesto Francisco Jr. are accused of profiting illegally by trading stocks for their personal accounts. Candelaria and Ongkeko have since quit their posts.
The complainant, SSS Commissioner Jose Gabriel La Viña, also said Chief Actuary George Ongkeko Jr. failed to keep complete records of the three officials’ trades.
Trade Union Congress of the Philippines’ spokesperson Alan Tanjusay said SSS members’ fears cannot be easily dispelled, especially as some of them have recently experienced problems in their transactions.
“Hindi on time yung pension na binibigay. Minsan nagkakaproblema duon sa mga loans na hininingi nila (The distribution of pension is not on time. Sometimes they encounter problems when requesting loans),” Tanjusay said.
“This is first of all blood money ng mga manggagawa (of workers) so this is a very sensitive issue for us… Baka naman saan saan mapunta o ma-mispent yung pera ng mga miyembro (The members’ money might be lost or misspent),” he added.
Malacañang, meanwhile, said it trusts the SSS to conduct a fair investigation and hold officials accountable if any illegal act is proven.
“The SSS in line with the administration’s goal of eradicating corruption will not tolerate foul play particularly in the management of SSS funds,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a Malacañang press briefing on Thursday.
Valdez said the issue has been the subject of their house cleaning even before it reached the media.
“We wanted to be quiet about it to protect the integrity of SSS,” he said.
Proposed increase in members’ contributions slammed
The alleged profiteering should not affect the proposed monthly hike in premium set for next year, Valdez said.
Labor groups such as the Partido Manggagawa (PM) called for the government to fix the controversy first before asking any increase in member contributions.
“The SSS must first clean its house and implement internal reforms before any additional burden is imposed,” PM national chair Rene Magtubo said in a statement.
“The conflict of interest and illegal transactions of the three SSS executives is probably just the tip of the iceberg as far as immoral profiting from the workers’ fund is concerned. Back in 2013, performance bonuses of more than a million each for SSS commissioners and top officials generated much outrage,” Magtubo added.
The SSS is hoping to implement by January, at the latest, its proposal for a 1.5 percent increase in monthly contributions, from the existing 11 percent to 12.5 percent.
