Quality service, not profitability

It is so disgusting to hear that members of the board of the Social Security System (SSS) so voraciously gifted themselves with fat bonuses amounting to a million pesos each while its member-retirees could hardly cope with their meager monthly pensions.

SSS President Emil de Quiros tried to justify the huge bonanza, saying that this was all legal and that the board members’ expertise and high-level professional qualifications should be considered, not to speak of the profits the SSS has earned during their tenure.

What? This is precisely what some idiots are saying. They have forgotten that the SSS has a captive market. It is a service network established for the benefit of millions of members who contribute (mandatory) to the system with the hope that they will receive a modest pension and other benefits on time.

As Valenzuela Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian pointed out, “The SSS is a natural monopoly and is sure to make money as it has no competition. Profitability cannot be the gauge of SSS performance. Performance should be measured in terms of member-satisfaction and high level of customer service” (“Profitability not a measure of SSS performance,” News, 10/17/13).

Indeed, it is sad that some of our officials today no longer have any moral compunction!

—ALFONSO B. UMALI,

Payatas A, Quezon City