DAVAO CITY —
The Social Security System (SSS) collected a total of P25.58 billion in contributions for the first quarter of 2013, which is a 7.8 percent increase over the P23.74 billion it collected for same period last year. Of this amount, 4.8 percent or P1.24 billion came from members’ contributions in Southern Mindanao.
SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio de Quiros, Jr. said that contribution collection in Southern Mindanao had a five percent jump from P1.18 billion for the first quarter in 2012.
“The bulk of the contributions came from the employed sector amounting to P21.95 billion, which is 7.2 percent higher than P20.47 billion collected in 2012. Voluntary payments also increased by 19.4 percent to P2.24 billion, while self-employed collection slightly decreased by 0.5 percent to P1.39 billion of the total collection contribution in 2013,” he noted.
Total benefit disbursements, on the other hand, showed a 2.1 percent decrease during the first quarter at P21.19 billion, down from P21.64 billion in 2012. Southern Mindanao’s benefit disbursement also dropped by two percent to P1.29 billion from P1.32 billion last year.
SSS’ investment income in the first quarter of the year reached P10.49 billion, exceeding its target of P9.32 billion by 12.6 percent. However, the amount fell short by 9.3 percent when compared to its P11.56 billion investment income in 2012. SSS operating expenses also showed a decrease from P1.86 billion in 2012 to P1.74 billion in 2013.
De Quiros and other SSS officials are in Davao City from May 27 to 30 to launch six AlkanSSSya units for various workers’ groups in the cities of Davao, Samal, Tagum and Panabo, as well as meet with branch heads in the Southern Mindanao region.
SSS branches in Southern Mindanao are located in Bislig, Davao, Digos, Mati, Tagum, Toril, Cotabato, General Santos City, Kidapawan, Koronadal and Tacurong. SSS Davao serves as the agency’s division headquarters in the region.
