SSS chief on bonus: It’s well-deserved, within budget and follows gov’t guidelines

MANILA – The head of the Social Security System (SSS) brushed aside criticisms that bonuses given the pension fund’s board members were uncalled for, if not immoral.

In a media briefing today, SSS president Emilio de Quiros Jr. said the performance bonus given members of the board as well as top-performing employees was money spent well.

“If the question is, ‘Is it moral?’ I think it is. We need to be able to get the right individuals to manage the institution,” de Quiros said.

“Remember, this is an institution that’s managing P380 billion. I think you need to hire people with integrity and are willing to work. (We need) to encourage people in the private sector to get employed in institutions like the SSS,” he said.

Members of the SSS board received a bonus of P1 million each while top-performing employees got bonuses amounting to a certain percentage of their monthly salaries.

A member of the SSS board receives a P40,000 bonus per board meeting and another P20,000 per committee meeting. Board and committee meetings are held twice a month.

As for rank-and-file employees, those who belong to the 10 percent top performers receive a bonus equivalent to 2.5 percent of their monthly salary. Those belonging to the next 80 percent get a bonus equivalent to 1.2-1.5 percent of their monthly salary.

De Quiros said the bonuses followed the guidelines set by the Governance Commission for Government-owned or controlled Corporation (GCG), and are within budget.

“If you really want to get the right individuals in the organization, you need to compensate them well,” he said.

“The concept of the bonus is not to waste money, but to encourage people to produce more. This means we need to meet or exceed targets, then we’re able to qualify for a bonus,” he added. –Rain Castro, InterAksyon.comRain Castro, InterAksyon.com