Due to the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), a multitude of workers in the National Capital Region (NCR) were not able to go and attend work. Because of this, a lot of the employees had their work suspended; and with this, a lot of our government agencies positively responded.
For one, the housing state or the Pag-IBIG Home Development Mutual Fund (HDMF) has announced that there will be a 3-month moratorium for all loans. In addition to that, they also made the announcement that the Pag-IBIG Calamity Loan could be taken and be applied for by people who have been affected by the infamous 2019 Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19); what's more is that Pag-IBIG members can now apply online without having to go somewhere else!
Read more about that here: Three-Month Moratorium to All Loans, Pag-IBIG Fund
To be in line with that, the Social Security System (SSS) has made their action towards this, too. Most employees, if not all, have received the email from them about the extension of contribution payments; here are the full details.
SSS extended contribution payments
As per the announcement of the department and their agency chief, the deadline for the payment of the monthly contributions wold be until the 15th of June, 2020. This announcement was led by the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and the President of SSS, Aurora Ignacio.
Furthermore, she said that the contributions not just for employed members are extended. In fact, all but regular members who are late can pay for their contributions on the 15th of June 2020 even for the preceding months before June.
For self-employed, voluntary, and non-working spouse members, they can pay their SSS contributions for the applicable months of January, February and March 2020, or the first quarter of 2020 until June 15, 2020. On the other hand, regular and household employers have until June 15, 2020 to pay for their employee's contributions from February to April May 2020 without incurring any penalties."
Not for eligibility
Some people can think of it that if they pay for their contributions, they'll be eligible for the benefit claim. This was then clarified by Ignacio, saying that the contributions that are paid retroactively by non-working spouse, voluntary, and self-employed members shall not be used for the claim.
This is, however, if the payment date will fall within the semester or after the global incident has transpired. Ignacio further explained that because of the entire country being placed under a strict quarantine, the SSS tellers are temporarily suspended and thus, the contributions are going to have to be extended.
Read: Special Loan Programs by the Government For Business Owners Affected by the COVID-19
As we all know, the entire country was placed on community quarantine and enhanced community quarantine to limit the movement of the general public. We recognize the difficulty encountered by our members and employers in paying SSS contributions since tellering services in SSS branches are temporarily suspended, and some banks are implementing limited operations. Thus, we have decided to extend the payment deadlines for SSS contributions for the mutual protection of our members and personnel."
How can employees and employers pay SSS contributions?
This is new information, however, this could be how voluntary and self-employed members are paying. Now that SSS extended their contribution payments, here's how employees and employers can pay.
Read: PH Military Personnel Will Donate Part of Their Salaries to Fight COVID-19
SSS members and employers are opted to utilize alternative online payment facilities in paying for their contributions. Here's how each of the categories can opt to pay.
NOTE: Some self-employed individuals and members might be doing their own way of paying their contributions using other payment methods even before the COVID-19 outbreak started. There's nothing wrong in doing that; for instance, if you are using PayMaya or GCash, there's no problem in doing so.
Without further ado, here are the ways on how employees and some employers can pay for the SSS contributions.
Read: Luzon Lockdown Extended Until April 30th
Individual paying members
If you fall under this category, the SSS has advised to pay the contributions via the Bayad Center Mobole app; through Moneygment through the My.SSS portal; or via PayMaya through the SSS Mobile application.
Members with existing Security bank deposit account
However, if you are a member and you have an Security bank deposit account that is existing, you can choose to use the Internet banking facility to pay for your contributions. This would be the easiest and the simplest way.
Household and regular employers
In the event that you fall under this category, you can choose to utilize the following banking options to settle and to pay for your monthly contributions:
- Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI) mobile and online banking facility through BizLink
- Security Bank Corporation's DigiBanker
- UnionBank's OneHUB facility
Moreover, they can also choose to use any of the following payment methods for the contributions of their employees as well as their company. All of these options here would use the eGov BancNet Online facility:
- Asia United Bank (AUB)
- Bank of Commerce (BoC)
- China Bank
- Chinatrust Commercial Bank Ltd. (CTBC)
- Metropolitan Bank (MetroBank)
- MUFG Bank
- Philippine Bank of Communication (PBCOM)
- Rizal Commercial Banking Corporation (RCBC)
- Robinsons Bank
- Standard Chartered Bank
Read: Who Can Go For the Mass Testing on April 14, 2020?
NOTE: The employer must have an existing account with any of these banks in order for them to be eligible of the banking facility.
Using these alternative online methods
The SSS extended payment contributions because of one thing - because of the fact that the government has placed the entire country in a quarantine. That being said, it's quite obvious that we need to stay at home.
Ignacio said in her remarks that she, together with the entirety of the SSS, is urging the public to stay safe at home to avoid the spread or the receiving of the virus. In addition to that, she told everyone to do this until the quarantine time comes to an end; it is truly for the safety of all people.
Read: Who Are the Middle Class and How Are They Different From the Poor?
We urged the public to follow the instruction of the national government and stay at home until the quarantine period is over. Don't worry about the deadlines of your contribution payments. Payment schedules have been extended for you and your family's safety."
Helping the public
In her final remarks, the agency chief said that the effort that SSS extended contributions payment is part of their assistance to the public. With many institutions and agencies giving their hand to the public, this is their way of assisting all workers in accordance to their contribution payments.
Read: Cabinet Members Give 75 Percent of Their Salaries to Help in the COVID-19 PH Government Efforts
What do you think about the fact that SSS extended contribution payments? How about the fact that it can't be added and used for the benefit claim? As of writing, the virus has successfully infected 4,195 people with over 220 total fatalities.
Source/s: GMA Network
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