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PNoy vetoes 13 bills during his term

RG Cruz, ABS-CBN News

MANILA - The bill seeking to increase the Social Security System (SSS) pension is not the first popular bill vetoed by President Benigno Aquino III during his term.Congressional records show that for the 15th Congress during the President&#x27;s first three years in office, he vetoed a total of 12 bills, including the Magna Carta for the Poor.<div>The other vetoed bills were: </div><ul>	<li>the fixed term for the Armed Forces chief;</li>	<li>additional benefits for centenarians; </li>	<li>the grant of Filipino citizenship to Gulshan Bedi; </li>	<li>the grant of retirement, health care and death benefits to professional Filipino athletes who win world championship titles in international professional sports competitions; </li>	<li>recognizing the early years from 0 to 6 as the first crucial stage of development; </li>	<li>the establishment of the career executive system; </li>	<li>the protection of the rights of internally displaced persons; </li>	<li>declaring the &#x27;waling-waling&#x27; as the national flower in addition to &#x27;sampaguita;&#x27; </li>	<li>the removal of the height requirement for police, fire and jail officers; </li>	<li>the amendment of certain provisions of Republic Act 6958 or the charter of the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority; and,</li>	<li>the strengthening of the career executive service.</li></ul>For the second half of his term which covers the 16th Congress from 2013 to date, Congress has enacted 91 laws, 69 of which are national, 17 are local and 5 are joint resolutions.Based on statistical data from the Lower House, no bill was vetoed as of December 2015, but 37 bills approved by both chambers are pending before the Office of the President.One of them was the just-vetoed SSS Pension Hike Bill.<div><a href="http://news.abs-cbn.com/business/01/14/16/pnoy-vetoes-p2000-sss-pension-hike" target="_blank">READ: PNoy vetoes P2,000 SSS pension hike</a></div>Under Article 6 of the 1987 Constitution, every bill passed by Congress shall be sent to the President for his signature. If he chooses to veto it, he must explain to the originating chamber of Congress why, for that chamber to reconsider the bill. If there is enough support for the bill, it may be sent to the other chamber for its own reconsideration. If the bill musters a 2/3 vote of each chamber voting separately, then the bill becomes law without need for presidential concurrence.Bills are vetoed in toto except for the national budgets, where the Constitution gives the President leeway to do line-item vetoes.<div>&#x27;NO CHOICE&#x27; </div>In a text message to ABS-CBN, Senate President Franklin Drilon said that to the best of his recollection, no veto of a bill by a President has been vetoed by Congress.Overriding a veto puts Congress on a collision course with the executive, pitting the President against his own allies who until 2013 had access to the pork barrel system.&quot;I respect the decision of the President to exercise his veto power over the proposed measure that would have granted a P2,000 across the board increase in the monthly pension under the Social Security System. It is within his prerogative as President to do so and this is part of the system of check and balance that is a critical component of our democracy,&quot; Drilon said in a statement.&quot;If the President, after a thorough review of the bill, believed that the enactment of the measure would, in the long run, negatively impact on the agency’s fund life and ability to provide a meaningful social security protection to its members and beneficiaries, then we fully respect his judgment. We may have a different opinion with the President on this particular matter, but I am confident that the executive branch is looking into other alternatives that will help the pensioners, without compromising the viability of the SSS as an institution tasked by the State to establish, develop, promote and perfect a sound and viable tax-exempt social security system suitable to the needs of the people.&quot;The Senate, for its part, will continue to legislate measures that it believes are critical and will be effective in uplifting the lives and welfare of our people. The Senate will not be hindered by this veto. We will look at it again and we will work hard to perfect the bill and finally give the people what it so deserve,&quot; he added.House Speaker Sonny Belmonte offered a more understanding tone, saying Aquino had no choice &quot;as SSS could not afford it from an actuarial point of view.&quot;&quot;The House passed a sister bill giving the SSS Board powers similar to that of the GSIS Board to increase premiums, but it was not yet approved by the Senate. PNoy chose to be a fiscally responsible leader, and not just one driven by current politics,&quot; said Belmonte.<div>&#x27;WALANG PUSO&#x27;</div>The bill&#x27;s author, independent senatorial candidate minority congressman and Grace Poe ally Bayan Muna Rep. Neri Colmenares said: &quot;Walang puso ba talaga si Pres. Aquino? This is patently anti-pensioner, anti-poor and anti-worker! The P2,000 pension hike is very reasonable and is badly needed by the pensioners and their dependents.&quot;&quot;Hindi pa tapos ang laban. I am now calling on the members of the House of Representatives and the Senate to side with the people and override the Aquino veto. We are also calling on LP congressmen to cross party lines and help us override this,&quot; Colmenares added.He belied the claim that the pension increase will cause SSS bankruptcy, calling it a &quot;phantom fear&quot; of the Malacañang. He said the SSS &quot;more than enough&quot; funds to provide an increase in pension.Fellow Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate said the veto is another proof that Aquino&#x27;s &quot;Daang Matuwid&quot; lacks compassion for ordinary Filipinos.&quot;It is blind, deaf and numb over the urgent needs of the people. The SSS pension is a perfect example of social justice that is being denied from us by the hacienderos in power,&quot; Zarate said. &quot;This is the reason why, despite the packaging of their standard bearer as a &#x27;karaniwang tao,&#x27; the masses, far from being hoodwinked, merely dismissed his moves as pathetic comical stunts. Because in truth, this exiting Aquino administration does not have a heart for the poor and the marginalized.&quot;If no override happens, then a vetoed bill is archived where it dies a natural death. Any bill that fails to be enacted maybe refiled.In a statement, Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma said that according to Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa Jr., the President has informed Congress, through the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, that he has vetoed the enrolled House Bill No. 5842, which provides for a P2,000 across-the-board increase in the monthly pension of SSS pensioners and adjustment of the minimum monthly pension from P1,200 to P3,200, for members who have contributed the equivalent of 10 credited years of service (CYS), and from P2,400 to P4,000, for those with at least 20 CYS.<div>ACTUARIAL VIABILITY </div>In his message, Aquino said the stability of the entire SSS benefit system, whose present membership comprises about 31 million individuals, will be seriously compromised in favor of 2 million pensioners and their dependents.&quot;...the P2,000 across-the-board pension increase with a corresponding adjustment of the minimum monthly pension will result in substantial negative income for the SSS. More specifically, the proposed pension increase of P2,000.00 per retiree, multiplied by the present number of more than two million pensioners, will result in a total payout of P56 billion annually. Compared against annual investment income of P30 billion - P40 billion, such total payment for pensioners will yield a deficit of P16 billion - P26 billion annually...,” the President added.He said SSS will be constrained to draw from and use its Investment Reserve Fund (IRF) to support the pension increase and as a result, &quot;...the IRF will diminish over the years, eventually reaching zero by the year 2029...&quot;According to Colmenares, the government should improve SSS collections to improve its actuarial viability.&quot;Contrary to SSS allegations of the measure being just a &#x27;quick fix,&#x27; the bill&#x27;s authors have always offered solutions to the actuarial impact of the proposed increase. Firstly, SSS must improve its collection efficiency... A mere 10% increase in collection efficiency will go a long way in increasing its investment fund, which means larger investment and income per year and longer fund life. SSS has no right to demand an increase in members&#x27; contribution if it cannot even achieve a 40% collection efficiency of contributions due for collection. It is like imposing new taxes when government cannot even collect current taxes due,&quot; he said.During the 2009 Senate proceedings for the approval of the SSS Condonation Law (RA 9903) it was found that the SSS failed to collect a total of P94 billion from employers. At the end of the condonation period, only 24,043 employers availed of the program by remitting P3.545 billion,&quot; he said.He also cited an SSS report dated January 12, 2013 that there were 174,985 delinquent employers with total liabilities of P8.515 billion as of December 31,2010. SSS failed to collect P13 billion from delinquent employers as of 2014 while its Aging Member Loans amounted to P64.01 billion, of which P19.407 billion represents loans outstanding for more than 5 years.He said the SSS can also improve its prosecution of employers who did not remit collected contribution. Of the 164,111 delinquent employers in 2010, SSS only filed an average of 1,200 cases per year which means it will take SSS more than 100 years to collect from these employers. &quot;SSS should also cut down on exorbitant bonuses to its board members. It cannot claim that the SSS lack funds to support a pension increase but awarded its Board members with more than P1 million bonus each in 2012, and refused to take back more than P200 million in retirement packages to its Board Members in 2009,&quot; Colmenares said.&quot;The &#x27;bankruptcy argument&#x27; is further exposed as baseless because government, under the RA 8282, has the obligation to appropriate funds should the SSS fail to replenish the projected P4 Billion deficit resulting from the pension increase. There can never be a bankrupt pension system because government will always intervene if necessary. Even Vietnam subsidized its last 10% pension increase,&quot; he said.Lawmakers, meanwhile, also quickly weighed in on the President&#x27;s move.Isabela 1st District Rep. Rodolfo Albano III lamented the veto, warning the President that his decision might have repercussions on the popularity of his candidates in May elections.But Albano was quick to say that the President might have his own reasons for vetoing the proposed P2,000 pension hike. &quot;There must be something that he knows that we don&#x27;t,&quot; he said.

MANILA - The bill seeking to increase the Social Security System (SSS) pension is not the first popular bill vetoed by President Benigno Aquino III during his term.

PNoy vetoes 13 bills during his term

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PNoy vetoes 13 bills during his term

RG Cruz,

ABS-CBN News

Published Jan 14, 2016 08:19 PM PHT

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