By
Felipo David G. Malcampo
ZAMBOANGA
CITY – There are now over 32.1 million members of the Social
Security System (SSS) which includes workers coming from the informal sector
and even inmates who are giving contributions monthly, said an SSS official
here last week.
SSS
Assistant Vice President for Western Mindanao Atty. Rodrigo Filoteo shared that
membership increase can be attributed to new innovations, such as the
AlkanSSSya program.
“The
AlkanSSSya serves as a ‘piggy bank’,” Filoteo said. “Tricycle drivers, market
vendors and even prison detainees have now become contributing members of the
SSS.”
The
AlkanSSSya is a strategy to encourage workers of the informal sector to “drop”
a daily amount for a monthly savings that would add up to at least Php330 per
member.
Meanwhile,
the SSS has been initiating partnerships with government agencies and local
government offices to enable their job order and contractual workers who are
not members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) to become members
using the AlkanSSSya scheme.
Atty.
Filoteo emphasized the importance of being SSS members as benefits are
numerous, especially in times of contingencies. Among the benefits that members
are eligible to receive are sickness and maternity leave, disability,
retirement, death and funeral benefits, employees’ compensation and salary
loans.
