I was one of the SSS members with less than 120 monthly contributions, who availed ourselves of the 2013 retirement policy of the Social Security System (SSS). The policy qualified us to get a monthly pension so long as we completed the 120-month contribution requirement.
I completed mine in one instance, paying nine months’ deficiency on June 3, 2013 (Special Bank Receipt No. 31204). On July 2, 2014, I filed my retirement application as instructed, which was quickly rejected because one month (January 2014) was not yet posted. In other words, the SSS penalized me for its own deficiency.
Thereafter, my sad experience with this “Samahang Sosyal ng mga Sadista” or SSS began. The system makes me return each month to check whether it has posted this one and only one month of nine months’ payment. Last time I did this was on Feb. 24, 2015, and still the system hasn’t done its job. Yes, it continues using “system” in its name. My foot!
—LAURO G. NOVENARIO, elgingee@yahoo.com