SSS must collect from deadbeats

When I listened to SSS president Cora dela Paz explain on television why SSS needs an increase in premiums paid by employers, my tendency is to give her the benefit of the doubt. I have known Cora for many years and I totally trust her judgment. She is one public official I can confidently say has no personal hidden agenda. She needs that SSS job like a hole in her head. She’s there only out of a sense of duty. I am almost sure she’d be happier as a private citizen.

Still, I wonder if SSS has done all it can to firm up its shaky financial situation without having to ask for additional contributions from members. I just got a copy of the details of the P50-billion worth of non performing assets of SSS and I can’t stop wondering if they exerted enough effort to collect.

For instance, P375 million of the P454 million in SSS non performing business and social loans is accounted for by Waterfront Philippines Inc. The principal of this corporation is a known crony of Erap and it is likely that this is a behest loan. With a son of this crony now a member of Congress, I imagine SSS officials are afraid to send a collection notice.

Yet, that is a large sum of money and if SSS computes interest and penalties as SSS should, the financial position of the pension fund would be that much better. I wonder if Cora can update us on what SSS has done about this account. Maybe the list I got, a year old, is outdated and the account has been properly settled since. When I checked last Tuesday, I was told the NPL accounts haven’t moved much since Cora took over.

The other thing that bothers me is the P28 billion in NPL accounted for by the National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. (NHMFC). That’s the agency tasked to undertake low cost housing projects. SSS had been asked by previous and current Presidents to help finance their administration’s housing programs under guarantee by the NHMFC. In other words, the money that belongs to the pension fund of private sector workers was used to support a political project.

Before proposing that SSS members increase their contributions, government must come with clean hands and pay this multi-billion peso obligation. It is too bad that there is no one in the SSS board that looks after the rights of members, both workers and employers. I think the retirees and small entrepreneurs should be given board seats.

Let us put it this way. SSS hopes to raise P5 billion a year from that one-percent increase in employers contributions. Collecting just a portion of the P28 billion from NHMFC should more than cover this deficiency. Calling on the government guarantee, plus interest and penalties, is the logical step that should have been taken to improve the finances of SSS even before the increase in premium was considered.

Okay so it is the employers who will shoulder the additional premium anyway. But over 60 percent of employment in this country are provided by small and medium businesses that are even now living hand to mouth. The additional burden matters to them. If only he was not so busy putting facial make up for the TV cameras, the representative of the private business sector at the SSS board should have pointed that out.

Unfortunately, the people who are supposed to represent private business at the Social Security Commission are characters who have made a profession out of being officers of trade associations. Their only interest is to look good in television interviews and to make sipsip to whoever is in Malacañang, possibly using their positions for personal advantage. Notice how quickly they shifted allegiance from Erap to Ate Glo.

This is why we are in a mess. There is almost no one we can trust to do the right thing anymore… not those who are supposed to represent us, anyway.

Family planning

Another good indication that Ate Glo may be thinking of a post 2004 scenario that keeps her in power is the absence of a strong family planning program. As an economist, she must know that this is something we urgently need to break the cycle of poverty in our country. But she is apparently, still worried about the reaction of the Catholic Church hierarchy to even say something in this direction.

Dr. Aniceto C. Orbeta, senior research fellow at the Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), recently warned that giving the poor fertility choices do not only have current effects but also have intergenerational impact.

"There is overwhelming evidence that high fertility leads to decreased investments in human capital. This has been identified as the main cause of the transmission of poverty from one generation to another. This requires pro-active subsidy, including better targeting of public services such as education and health to improve human capital investments of the poor," Orbeta noted.

He explained that in the short term, these initiatives of the government would shield the poor from deprivation due to their current economic status. Over the long term, it will help stop the intergenerational transmission of poverty. He concluded that "providing information on the implications of high fertility and family planning services should be an integral component of any poverty alleviation package.

Ass in a hole

This one was forwarded by Marilyn Mana-ay Robles.

One day a farmer’s donkey fell down into a well. The animal cried piteously for hours as the farmer figured out what to do. Finally he decided the animal was old, and the well needed to be covered up anyway, it just wasn’t worth it to retrieve the donkey.

He invited all his neighbors to come over and help him. They each grabbed a shovel and began to shovel dirt into the well. At first, the donkey realized what was happening and cried horribly.

Then, to everyone’s amazement, he quieted down. A few shovel loads later, the farmer looked down the well, and was astonished at what he saw. As every shovel of dirt hit his back, the donkey did something amazing. He would shake it off and take a step up. As the farmer’s neighbors continued to shovel dirt on top of the animal, he would shake it off and take a step up.

Pretty soon, everyone was amazed, as the donkey stepped up over the edge of the well and trotted off.

The Moral Lesson: Life is going to shovel dirt on you, all kinds of dirt. The trick to getting out of the well is to shake it off and take a step up. Each of our troubles is a stepping stone. We can get out of the deepest wells just by not stopping, never giving up! Shake it off and take a step up!

Remember the five simple rules to be happy: 1. Free your heart from hatred. 2. Free your mind from worries. 3. Live simply. 4. Give more. 5. Expect less.

O.K., enough of that B.S. ..

The donkey later came back, caught the farmer out in the field and kicked the shit out of him. Then he went over to each of his neighbors and kicked the shit out of them too for helping.

The REAL Moral lesson: When you try to cover your ass, it always comes back to get you.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]