The senate on Monday, November 9 approved on third and final reading a bill granting an across the board Php 2,000 increase in the monthly pension of the Social Security System (SSS) pensioners.
Voting 15-1, the Senate passed House Bill No. 5842 or the Social Security Act, seeking to amend section 12 of Republic Act 1161 or the Social Security Act of 1997.
Senate minority leader Juan Ponce Enrile voted against the passage of the bill, saying the granting of the ‘generous benefit’ to the estimated 1.9 million pensioners would eventually lead to the “bankruptcy” of the SSS.
House Bill 5842 was sponsored in the Senate by Senator Cynthia Villar, Senate President Pro-tempore Ralph Recto and Senators “TG” Guingona III, JV Ejercito, Ramon “Bong” Revilla Jr., Chiz Escudero, Jinggoy Estrada, Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., and Deputy Minority Leader “Tito” Sotto, Villar, Chairperson of the Senate committee on government corporations and public enterprises and principal sponsor of the bill, said “given the rising cost of living, it is high time we give our retirees and their family a monthly pension that will allow them to at least live with dignity.” (Eagle News Service)