Untalan’s SSS pension verified, okayed

This is regarding the letter of Erol Untalan about his retirement pension which, according to him, he has not received until now, two years after his filing and submission of all documentary requirements. (Inqurer, 2/27/12)

Contrary to Untalan’s impression that he had complied, since 2010, with all the requirements relative to his claim to retirement pension, our record shows that he lacked the 120 monthly contributions required to qualify for lifetime pension, and so a manual verification of his contributions had to be done first. After the manual verification of his contributions, he then requested a deletion of his SE/VM (self-employed/voluntary member) contributions for 2009 and 2010 on Nov. 3, 2011. A clearance was issued for this request on Nov. 23, 2011.

Untalan filed his retirement application on Dec. 23, 2011. However, his claim was rejected since his status was reverted to employed since his SE/VM contributions were already deleted. He was then asked to provide a certificate of separation from his last employer which he submitted on Feb. 9, 2012. His retirement claim was filed again on the same day.

Based on our records, Untalan’s application for pension has been approved. He will be receiving an initial benefit of P82,440. The amount includes back payment starting from his date of contingency, which is Feb. 28, 2007, and an advance payment until April of this year. He can now withdraw the amount.

Untalan will be receiving his monthly pension in the amount of P1,320 starting May 2012.

We would also like to clarify a point raised by Untalan wherein he said that the SSS should ask its members to submit all required documents a year before their retirement. The fact is, we have repeatedly reminded our members who are about to retire to have the documentary requirements ready at least six months prior to their retirement to ensure the speedy processing of their claim.

Our members can check the requirements for retirement and other benefits at sss.gov.ph or they can call our hotline 920-6446 up to 55.

—MARISSU G. BUGANTE,

vice president, Public Affairs and

Special Events Division,

Social Security System