PH social security reopens San Francisco branch

SSS representative to San Francisco Marites Marin (standing) acknowledges pplause as she was introduced to the crowd. PHOTOS BY JUN NUCUM

SAN FRANCISCO–Top executives of the Social Security System (SSS) led by its president and CEO Emilio de Quiros, Jr. recently reopened the SSS branch office at the Philippine Consulate here.

The reopened branch will render full services to all SSS members both old and new without having to wait until they are back to the Philippines.

“We used to have a San Francisco office in the past but, for whatever reason, it was stopped. We are now aggressively reaching out to our overseas Filipinos workers (OFWs),” De Quiros explained.

“We had one opened in Toronto last year. I am here to give you an update on what is happening to SSS while our staff is conducting the all-important on-site services for member concerns,” he added.

De Quiros further said that the branch reopening is meant to give SSS members in the United States the chance to continue with their membership. “Our San Francisco office (is) the 22^nd SSS foreign office.”

Through their SSS number, members can continue payment of their contributions to reactivate their membership, which is automatic the moment a contribution is made.

Contributions from January this year can still be paid until end of December and will be counted in favor of the minimum required 120-month contribution to avail of the pension.

While the on-site services were going on, De Quiros and senior Vice President of Account Management Group and International Operations Division Judy Frances See gave a briefing and Q&A on the current status, coverage programs and new developments in the SSS.

Philippine San Francisco Vice Consul Rachel Oronce (third from left) welcomes the SSS executives led by President Emilio de Quiros (second from right) and SVP Judy Frances See (third from right).

SSS membership increased with 33.3 million members in September 2015 compared with 28.8 million in December 2010, including 1.1 million OFWs in 2015, which used to be only 0.7 million in 2010.

See clarified that as long as applicants are Filipinos or former Filipinos, and even if they were born abroad but with Filipino or former Filipino parents and are dual citizens, they can be first-time registrants and qualify to be SSS members.

In an interview after the briefing, de Quiros attributed the increase in revenues to their outreach efforts for membership aside from reactivation of old members. They also enforced strict compliance of employers to remit the contributions of members that were already deducted from their salaries.

The moment that employers fail to remit their employees’ contributions, those employers are sent notices right away, and should they still fail to comply, a case against them would be filed.

“One major challenge in our outreach in the Middle East and even in the United States is the overwhelming population of Filipinos that we cannot reach out to all at once,” de Quiros noted. “There is an estimate of about 10 million Filipinos all over and it is an enormous task to reach them all. So we had to choose the places where there are major concentrations of Filipinos.”

SSS now has 22 offices in 17 countries, including in cities such as Hong Kong, Taipei, Kuala Lumpur, Macau also now in Kaoshiung and soon in Tokyo. In the Middle East, it has offices in Riyadh, Jeddah, Al Khobar, Doha, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain and Oman.

In Europe, there are SSS offices in Rome, Milan and London, while North America has Toronto and soon-to-be-reopened in San Francisco offices.

The Castro family led by patriarch Gervacio (with cap) daughter Eva Castro delos Santos (extreme right) and son Jerry (extreme left) was able to avail of SSS onsite services at San Francisco Philippine consulate.

“Among the addition in benefits is the increase in funeral benefits and the provident fund that was launched this year,” explained de Quiros. “I am urging fellow Filipinos to reactivate their SSS membership to avail of the numerous benefits and pension programs that are available for them.”

See echoed de Quiros: “We encourage them to reactivate their membership to qualify for pension as well. For every peso you contribute, everything goes back to you plus interest, 1:6 at the minimum to 1:20 at the maximum.”

See also announced that for those OFWs who want to save more aside from the regular OFW program, a flexi fund program is also now available.

“It is an individual account which gives guaranteed earnings, a tax-free annual incentive benefits. The flexi fund gives you relatively higher rates of return if you want to save more which can also be withdrawn any time,” explained See.

The family of Gervacio Castro, who worked for 34 years in Subic Naval Base in Zambales, was glad that SSS onsite services taught them a lot.

“The services they gave were very good. Ang ganda nga e. We are thankful kami kasi pinadala ang SSS dito to reach out to the OFWs in California. We were enlightened as many of our questions were answered especially those who already live here and cannot go back to the Philippines right away,” disclosed Gervacio’s children Jerry Castro and Eva Castro delos Santos, who were originally from Olongapo and are now South San Francisco residents. “We can now still continue our contributions from here and we can even bring our father here for his own concerns.”

Among the nearby places that SSS visited after the briefing was the Pilipino Senior Resource Center (PSRC) on Mission Street, San Francisco now headed by newly installed executive director Cecille Ascalon, wife of Deputy Consul-General Jaime Ramon Ascalon.

Ascalon reported that some eighty PSRC members and guests who were also having their early Christmas party felt honored that de Quiros visited them together with other SSS officers and Mrs. Mariza Bensurto, wife of the PCG SF Consul General Henry Bensurto Jr.

“Among the concerns of the PSRC members were most of them who are long-time U.S. residents want to continue with their contributions no longer remember their SSS numbers, and they ask if they can get their pensions while still living in the U.S.,” Ascalon stated.

“An SSS officer then gave them forms where they wrote their name, address and birthdays and the members were able to get the information that they needed. President de Quiros then assured them they can still get their pensions even if they live in the U.S.”

For more information on the flexi fund and other North America OFW concerns, See advised to visit the San Francisco office at 7th floor of the Philippine Center Building at 447 Sutter St. San Francisco, CA starting January 2016 or call hotlines (760)-7972187 for U.S. and (760)-4065152 for Canada from Monday 6:00 a.m. to Saturday 6:00 a.m. Manila time. All OFWs can also send their communications at [email protected].       

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