WE strongly agree with House Deputy Minority Leader Neri Colmenares that the leadership of the Social Security System (SSS) has forgotten its mandate in trying to scuttle the proposed P2,000 per month increase in pension benefits, a measure that is broadly supported by both houses of Congress and the public.
The SSS has claimed that the increase will quickly exhaust its available funds. However, financial details, provided by the agency itself and cited by Colmenares (and furthermore confirmed by an independent check) tell a different story: As of the end of the first quarter of this year, the SSS had P427.4 billion in investments earning an average annual return of 7 percent. In the January-March period, the agency collected P32.2 billion in contributions and another P8.8 billion in investment and other income, against operating expenses of just P1.9 billion. Loans and benefits paid out during the same period totaled P34.4 billion.
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