Last-minute chance

There is a snowball’s chance in hell for Congress to approve a proposed P1,000 across-the-board increase for pensioners of the Social Security System (SSS) but if it’s coming from House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte, then it has to be something, right?

Not exactly, if one considers that this is election season and any proposed increase in SSS pension will be looked at as purely a campaign move aimed at getting brownie points and votes from the public.

But even with the obvious campaign slant to it, the Filipino public has little choice but to support it if only to make life a little easier for the retirees who’ve been receiving a pittance for all the years working in the private sector.

Belmonte disclosed that the SSS was receptive to the idea of raising the pension for retirees by a measly P500.

Probably P500 would have been a lot 30 years ago, when jeepney fares cost P1 and one could get a decent fastfood meal AND watch a movie for P50.

So Belmonte thought P1,000 would be a better compromise and may even be entertained by Pres. Benigno Aquino III, even if by all accounts he is just trying to survive the last few months of his term by weathering the storm of public outrage caused by his friend, Transportation Secretary Jun Abaya.

Even if he is House Speaker, can Belmonte summon enough across-the-board support for a P1,000 increase for seniors at this stage? Maybe with great effort he can mobilize support from Liberal Party (LP) allies but it’s unlikely he will get the same support from partylist groups who are backing Rep. Neri Colmenares’s original proposal of a P2,000 pension increase.

If it’s any comfort, the business community is probably receptive to the idea though we doubt if an increase in contributions will be looked at kindly by the active labor force.

Any chance of that proposal passing will have to secure support from the country’s seniors group like the Office of the Seniors Citizens Affairs in Cebu.

At the same time, a previous idea floated by seniors and militant groups to cut down on the incentives and bonuses of the government-owned and -controlled corporations (GOCCs) and re-channel them to benefits for the country’s disadvantaged sectors may gain traction if only to reaffirm this administration’s claim of “straight path” or Daang Matuwid.

At any rate, it’s high time the President gives emphasis on measures that not only enhance his legacy — think the Bangsamoro Basic Law — but also give respite to the less fortunate and by that we don’t mean the Pamilyang Pantawid doleout program.

Anyway, whoever becomes the next president will probably want to give Belmonte’s proposal a shot.