SSS chief resigns to run for Pensyonado party-list

Social Security System (SSS) President and Chief Executive Officer (PCEO) Rolando Ledesma Macasaet on Friday announced that he had submitted his irrevocable resignation to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on 3 October, 2024.

Macasaet noted he will be filing his Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance as a party-list nominee on 6 October, 2024, which, by operation of law under the rules of the Commission on Elections (Comelec), ends his tenure as PCEO on the said date.

Macasaet also thanked President Marcos for the opportunity to serve as SSS PCEO and asked for his support and endorsement for the SSS-GSIS Pensyonado Party-list.

Meanwhile, the SSS-GSIS Pensyonado Party-list welcomed this development and said that the entire organization is happy with Macasaet’s decision to accept its nomination.

“As former chief of SSS and GSIS, Mr. Macasaet has a firm understanding of how the national pension system works and as a pensioner himself, he knows what are the limitations of these institutions - limitations which may be addressed through legislative representation.” SSS-GSIS Pensyonado Partylist spokesperson Fercival Yutan said.

Under Macasaet’s leadership, SSS achieved a string of accomplishments that include the record-breaking 2.4 million members for the first seven months of 2024, which was an increase of 923,000 compared to the same period in 2023.

Notable increases in SSS membership were also posted among the self-employed, which rose to 419,000 members, while overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) increased to 10,300.

“With these awesome numbers, it is possible for SSS to hit 5 million new members by the end of the year,” Macasaet was earlier quoted.

As SSS President and CEO, Macasaet initiated the signing of a series of Memoranda of Agreement (MOAs) with different sectors, including the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), which has more than 4 million household beneficiaries, and another MOA with Angkas Philippines, which provided social security coverage to more than 30,000 motorcycle taxi riders.

GSIS stint

Macasaet also served as President and General Manager of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) during the Duterte administration.

He introduced reforms including GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System (GWAPS), an ATM-like machine that allows pensioners and government employees to access their membership records and loan data from the state pension fund.

Aside from saving members’ time and money for travel, the GWAPS machine also encourages “paperless transactions” since GSIS pensioners and members can now transact and submit their loan applications to GSIS electronically via the internet.

Aside from his leadership roles in government-owned and controlled corporations from 1988 to 2005, Macasaet also has more than two decades of professional experience in financial services, banking, and public-private partnerships. He previously worked at Philippine National Bank and served as a board member of San Miguel Corp., Bank of Commerce, and Private Infrastructure and Development Corp., among others.

Macasaet obtained his bachelor’s degree in Business Economics and Master of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines–Diliman. He then finished an Executive Program in Finance at Columbia University in New York and earned a Diploma in Management Development from Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.