Editorial: Was a veto the only answer to the SSS pension issue?

President Aquino vetoed the bill raising the monthly pensions of Social Security System (SSS) retirees by P2,000 because, he said, of its “dire financial consequences.” The bill, he said, would have resulted in additional payments to pensioners totalling P56 billion a year. The SSS Investment Reserve Fund would have been depleted by the year 2029. This would be true if, in the meantime, the government did nothing about it. In the next 13 years until 2029, is there really nothing the government can do to provide the needed funds? And is there nothing the SSS can do about its management, such as improving its 40 percent rate of collection on delinquent employer contributions? Under the Social Security Law, RA 8282, approved in 1997, SSS funds come from contributions of private employers and their employees as well as self-employed members. As its contribution to the operation of the SSS, Congress shall [...]