President Rodrigo Duterte approves hike in SSS pension. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
President Rodrigo Duterte has approved a P1,000 increase in the pension of retired Social Security System (SSS) members.
Presidential spokesperson Ernesto Abella confirmed the news in a Palace briefing on Tuesday.
“President Duterte has approved the P1,000 hike this month,” Abella said.
Approving an increase in the social security fund was a campaign promise of Duterte. The approval comes in spite of concerns of his Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III that the fund would go bankrupt.
He said the President wanted to “fulfill a social contract with the Filipino people.”
But the Palace official said contributions would be increased by 1.5 percent starting May 2017.
Duterte approved the hike amid calls for him to sign the proposal for a P2,000 increase in the pension of SSS retirees.
SSS chair Amado Valdez thanked the President for his “sense of caring for our pensioners.”
Valdez said the first P1,000 increase would take effect this January while the second P1,000 increase would be in 2022.