Social Security System (SSS) is running after P2.4 million total collectibles from six delinquent employers registered in its Dau Branch.
These are employers of a hospital, school, restaurant, hotel, funeral parlor, and gasoline station located in Magalang town and Mabalacat City.
SSS Luzon Central 2 Division Vice President Gloria Corazon Andrada shared that this is part of the agency’s Run After Contribution Evaders (RACE) program which aims to visit employers who failed to pay their employees’ Social Security and Employees’ Compensation contribution.
“Our employers are completely aware that their compliance is crucial for the social security protection of their employees in times of contingencies. However, they stated that they are still in the process of recovering from their financial losses,” she said.
She added that they understand that the employers were affected by the economic downtrend amid the pandemic that is why they are offering special programs to aid them in paying their delinquencies.
Among the programs offered by the SSS is the Pandemic Relief and Restructuring Program (PRRP 3), an enhanced installment payment program which offers flexible payment terms ranging from nine to 60 months, depending on the total amount of delinquency.
“We can say that our previously held campaigns were successful because one employer paid their arrears in full while others already submitted their PRRP 3 applications shortly after our last operation in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga [on August 17],” Andrada said.
The campaign in Dau is the 10th operation in Luzon Central 2 Division. It is eyeing to conduct two more campaigns within the year.
Under the RACE program, delinquent employers are given 15 days from receipt of the order for settlement to coordinate with SSS, and failure to do so will lead to an issuance of a formal demand letter to begin the legal process.
Another 10 days will be given to them to comply with the demand letter, and non-compliance during the said period will prompt the agency to file a case in violation of Republic Act 11199 otherwise known as the Social Security Act of 2018 to the Prosecutor’s Office.
The sanction provided by law against employers who do not comply with their obligations is imprisonment of six years and one day up to 12 years. (MJSC/JLDC-PIA 3)
