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Query: The life of a retiree is full of miseries.
This has been my experience after almost five years of retirement
from a firm where I worked for more than six decades. I had
discharged my duties honestly. At the same time, I religiously paid
my monthly contributions to the Social Security System, expecting
that upon retirement I would be fully taken care of by the monthly
pensions and other benefits.
Unfortunately, my monthly
pensions are not sufficient for one full meal a day or to buy basic
commodities, e.g., medicines, vitamins, etc., the prices of which
are consistently rising. I tried to secure a loan from the SSS, but
the system scuttled my plan. My fellow retirees informed me they had
similar miseries. Aside from our problems with the SSS, some
companies are not honoring our senior citizens’ cards.
Will there be an end to our
miseries?
Brosi A.
Reply
Before we answer your query,
allow us to portray the origin of the Social Security System of the
Philippines. President Elpidio M. Quirino created the Social
Security System Study Commission in 1948, which body paved the way
for the birth of the SSS. Significantly, it was the first official
act of the honest and moral chief executive. His purpose was to
protect his fellowmen against poverty. Thus, under the SSS law, covered
employees and their families are protected against the hazards of
disability, sickness, old age and death, with a view to promoting
their well-being in the spirit of social justice.
For several decades, the creation
of Ramon’s granduncle benefited hundreds of Filipinos.
Unfortunately, the “dirty hand” of politics penetrated the
portals of the Social Security System, bringing in the civil serpent
of corruption. The same was caused by the appointment of officials
who were beholden to the dictates of those who had appointed them.
Thus, we believe that the best remedy is to adopt the social
security set-up in Canada, where politicians have no hand in the
appointment of those who manage the system.
Speaking of Canada, the citizens
are taken care of virtually from birth to death. We know this fact,
because we have two children and four grandchildren in that vast
continent. When a child is born, he is given full medical assistance
(medicines, doctors and hospitalization). Above all, he is given a
monthly “pension” until he reaches the age of eighteen, aside
from free education from four years upward. With respect to the
retirees, they have residences and are given free medical
attention—aside from their monthly pensions. When the consumer
index goes up, the monthly pensions are automatically adjusted.
Indeed, Canadian retirees have no problems unlike their counterparts
in the Philippines.
We suggest that the Social
Security System be managed by people who possess what we call the
five Hs—honesty, hard-work (diligence), humility (meekness),
humanity-conscious (concerned) with the problems of their fellow
human beings) and heavenly-centered (placing God and His
commandments always at the center of their lives).
In the discharge of their duties,
the SSS officials should adopt the policy of five Ts, i.e., to be
transparent in their public and private lives, for nothing can be
hidden from God; truthful in everything they say or declare;
trustworthy in all things temporarily entrusted to them; tireless in
discharging their task, for they are mere instruments of Almighty
God to help their fellow human beings; and tender-hearted for they
are not kings or masters to be saved—they should instead lead
others like the Good Shepherd.
With such managers, the miseries
of the retirees will come to an end.
Above all things, let us harken
to what our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said: “I am the way and
the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through
me.” (John 14:6).
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