Pension increase ought to start January 2014

Social Security System’s Marissu G. Bugante, in her letter to the editor (“SSS explains increased benefits from upgrade,” Opinion, 7/22/14), wrote: “For example all pensioners as of May 31, 2004, are covered by the new 5-percent across the board pension increase effective June this year.” The 0.60-percent increase in the premium contributions of the 30 million SSS members and their respective employers took effect on Jan. 1, 2014; therefore, the pension increase should also start on that date. The disbursement of the pension increase was to have been done last August; is it not justifiable to include the months of January, February, March, April and May 2014, in the application of the “back pension increase”?

In another portion of Bugante’s letter, she cited: “There were indeed 21 SSS pension increases from 1980 to 2007; 1987, 1991 and 1993 were the three years with ‘two pension increases’ in the same year. These same-year increases deserve to be counted separately.” I rechecked my source data, which I took from the article “Strengthening Social Security System” (Talk of the Town, 2/2/14) by Emilio de Quiros Jr., SSS CEO and president. My earlier reported figures were correct, as follows:

Year of pension increase  Rate

1987                                          20%  reported twice

1991                                          10% and 15%

1993                                          10% reported twice

Please note that it was only for the year 1991 that two rates were cited—10 percent and 15 percent. For the other two years, 1987 and 1993, only one rate was given “reported twice.” How can the years 1987 and 1993 with the same rates of 20 percent and 10 percent be considered as four?

We, the lowly paid senior citizen pensioners, hope that the SSS will reconsider the start of the effectivity of the 2014 pension increase and apply the same from January instead of June.

—BERNARDO V. PERALTA,

retired accounting professor,

Cebu City