President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. commended the Social Security System’s (SSS’) new and upcoming programs during its 2022 Balikat ng Bayan (BnB) awarding ceremony held at the Ramon Magsaysay Hall of the SSS Building in Diliman, Quezon City on September 30, 2022.
“With programs like these, which are timely, which are sensitive, which are aware of the condition of our employees, that is then the SSS has much reason to celebrate its 65th birthday because the job that you have been doing continues to be of great value to our people. The job that you are doing is exactly the job that we have asked you to do — to provide the safety nets, to provide guarantees for our people, when tragedies come, when crisis strikes, and when people are just going about their daily business,” he said.
President Marcos was referring to the SSS’ recently implemented Contribution Penalty Condonation Programs for Business and Household Employers, and Consolidated Loan Program with Condonation of Penalty for members; and its upcoming Contribution Subsidy Provider Program, and Flexible Payment Scheme Schedule for Farmers, Fisherfolk, and other Self-Employed Individuals in the Informal Economy.
He then encouraged the SSS to always embody excellence in all that it does and put the best interest of the Filipino people above everything else in its endeavors.
In response, SSS President and CEO Michael G. Regino reaffirmed the SSS’ commitment to serve its stakeholders with utmost dedication, competence, and integrity, continuously building on its path of growth and pursuing its overall improvement for its current and future members and their beneficiaries.
President Marcos also lauded the SSS’ 2022 BnB Awardees for the strong partnership they have formed with the SSS, helping the institution to carry out its mandate efficiently and smoothly.
“May this recognition inspire you and others to work more, to work even harder with the government in order to uplift the lives of our citizens,” he added.
The SSS conferred a total of 14 awards under the Top Employer, Best Collection Partner, Best Disbursement Partner, Best Media Partner, and Special Citations categories.
For Top Employer, the SSS selected BDO Unibank, Inc. for Large Accounts, and the Tahche Outsourcing Services, Inc. for Branch Accounts.
The Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company received the Best Collection Partner Award for Banks.
For Best Disbursement Partner, the SSS awarded the Philippine National Bank for Commercial Banks, and First Consolidated Bank for Thrift/Rural Bank/Electronic Money Issuers.
For Best Media Partner, the awardees are the Business Mirror for Print, DYBG 97.1 Ben FM for Broadcast, and Dr. Hilda C. Ong for Media Personality.
Meanwhile, Special Citations awardees are the Union Bank of the Philippines for Best Collection Partner – Bank; CIS Bayad Center, Inc. for Best Collection Partner – Non-Bank; Development Bank of the Philippines for Special Disbursement Partner – Philippine Electronic Fund Transfer System and Operations Network (PESONet) Sending Financial Institution; and Daily Guardian for Media Partner for Print.
Regino likewise thanked the SSS’ partners for their significant contributions to the institution.
“On behalf of the SSS, I would like to express our sincerest gratitude to all our partners, especially to the awardees, for their unwavering support that helps us continuously fulfill our mandate of providing meaningful social security protection to our members and their beneficiaries and deliver faster and more convenient services to them,” he said.
The 2022 BnB Awards is the culminating activity of the SSS’ month-long celebration of its 65th anniversary with the theme – “SSS@65: Kontribusyong Pinag-ipunan, Proteksyong Maaasahan.” ###
