Following the signing of the Rice Tariffication Bill, President Rodrigo Duterte also signed into law another economic bill that would extend more overseas Filipino workers (OFW) with social security benefits.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea confirmed Mr. Duterte’s signing of the measure on 15 February through a text message. He, however, did not provide additional details.

Malacañang has yet to release a copy of the new law.

The Social Security Act of 2018 repeals the Social Security Law or Republic Act 1161, as amended by Republic Act 8282, and gives more teeth to the powers of the Social Security System (SSS) to ensure its long-term viability.

The new charter also gives the SSS Commission a hand in determining the salary credit and monthly contributions of members which would now allow the commission to increase contributions depending on the actuarial survey.

New provisions also include the mandatory coverage for land-based and sea-based OFW below 60 years old, which is expected to increase the number of OFW beneficiaries from 500,000 to around 2.5 million.

Furthermore, the SSS Commission will also have the power to increase benefits, condone penalties and rationalize investments. The new law also extends unemployment assistance for SSS members who will be displaced involuntarily.

The new SSS charter also seeks to raise contributions of SSS members by one percentage point annually starting this year until the current rate of 11 percent increases to 15 percent by 2015.

Having a higher contribution means the SSS’s fund life will be stretched until 2038 from 2032 at present.

This means SSS members in good standing and pensioners can still enjoy their benefits for at least 20 more years from now.