KMU-Cordillera assails SSS contribution hike

By Aldwin Quitasol

BAGUIO CITY – The Kilusang Mayo Uno urged the Duterte government not to be part of their problems, saying Social Security System contributions should be not increased.

According to Vicente Dilem, Cordillera KMU spokesman,  workers have been suffering from unfair labor practices and inhumane treatment in their workplaces for so long and what made them worst was  inability of government to act seriously to uplift their lives.

Dilem said that they despised the past administrations because they only thought of the welfare of the employers and big businesses while ignoring the pleas of the workers for the government to be true to its mandate and serve its people.

He said that they expected something different from the administration of President Rodrigo Duterte because of his promises of change, “but it seems to be just the same story, that the workers and their families will remain hungry until the next administration whoever that is,” he added in Ilocano language.

The labor leader,  a former mineworker said approval of additional P1,000 to the SSS pension is laudable but criticized approval of a 1.5 percentage increase in the contribution of SSS members.

He said the Filipinos again are suffering from the usual practice of the institution supposedly looking for better remedies but instead passing the burden to the people impoverished by the rising daily cost of living.

Dilem said that before thinking of increasing the contribution of the members where many of them are workers as they keep on saying that the SSS pension hike will affect the fund life of the SSS, the people in charge should first instituted reforms.

“Bumayag a ti pondo ti SSS nu maisigurado da kuma ti collection efficiency ti ahensiya,” (The fund life of SSS will last long if the collection efficiency of the agency will be ensured) he said.

He said that the government through the SSS should aggressively go after delinquent employers and businesses who deliberately do not remit contributions for their employees and file cases against them.

He said government should lessen if not cancel huge bonuses of executives of the SSS.

Dilem challenged Duterte’s administration to be of help to Filipinos especially impoverished workers and not to be part of their burden.