aca 20: eC CEN aR 5. No. 17 HNo 2 Republic of the Bsilippines Congress of the Philippines Avtea Mlavila Sournteontl Congress Third Regular Session Begun and held in Metro Manila, on Monday, the twenty-third day of July, two thousand eighteen, [ Rerusuic AcrNo. 11199] ANACT RATIONALIZING AND EXPANDING THE POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE SOCIAL SECURITY COMMISSION ‘TO ENSURE THE LONG-TERM VIABILITY OF THE, SOCIAL SECURITY SYSTEM, REPEALING FOR THE, PURPOSE REPUBLIC ACT NO, 1161, AS AMENDED BY REPUBLIC ACT NO, 8282, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE, ‘SOCIAL SECURITY ACT OF 1997 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the Philippines in Congress assem bled: SECTION 1. Short Title. ~ This Act shall he known as ‘ovial Security Act of 2018" SEC. 2. Declaration. of Policy. ~ It is the poliey of the State to establish, develop, promote and perfect a sound and viable tax-exempt social security system suitable to the needs of the people throughout the Philippines which shall promote social justice through savings, and ensure meaningful social security protection to members and their beneficiaries agamst the hazards of disability, sickness, matermty, old age, death,and other contingencies resulting in lose of income or financial burden. Towards this end, the State shall endeavor to extend social security protection to Filipino workers, local or overseas, and their beneficiaries In the pursuit of this policy, g social security program shall be developed emphasizing the value of “work, save. invest and prosper". The maximum profitability of investible funds and resources of the program shall be ensured through a culture of excellence in management grounded upon sound and efficient policies employing internationally recognized best practices. SEC. 3. Social Security System. ~ (a) To carry out the purposes of this Act, the Social Security System, hereinaftar referred to as "SSS", a corporate body, with principal place of business in Metro Manila, Philippines, is horeby created. In the discharge of its mandated responsibilities under this Act, the SSS shall function and operate as an independent and accountable government-owned and -controlled corporation (GOCC) within the corporate governance standards and principles of Republic Act No. 10149 (GCG Law), except as otherwise provided herein, “The SSS shall be directed and controlled by a Social Security Commission, hereinafter referred to as “Commission”, composed of the Secretary of Finance as ex officio Chairperson, the SSS President and Chief Executive Officer as Vice. Chairperson who shall automatically act as the Commission Chairperson in the absence of the Finance Secretary. the Secretary of Labor and Employment, as ex officio member, and six (6) appointive members, three (3) of whom shall represent the workers’ group. at least one (1) of whom shall be a woman; three (3), the employers’ group, at least one (I) of whom shall be a woman; all of whom shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines and shall be of known competence. probity, integrity and recognized expertise in any of the fields of social security, pension fund, insurance, investment, banking and finance, economies, management, law or actuarial science and with at least ten (10) years of managerial or leadership experience. The six (6) members representing workers and employers groups shall be chosen from among the nominees of workers’ and employers’ organizations respectively, as endorsed by the Governance Commission for GOCCs following the fit and proper rule and 3 standards on integrity, experience, education, training and competence. The term of office of the regular appointive members of the Commission shall be three (3) years, which can be extended for another term of three (3) years: Provided, That the terms of the first six (6) appointive members shall be one (1), two (2), and three (3) years for every two (2) members, respectively, notwithstanding Section 17 of the GCG Law: Provided, further, That they shall continue to hold ‘fice until their succescors’ shall have been appointed and duly qualified. All vacancies, prior to the expiration of the termi shall be filled for the unexpired term only. The fiduciary: duties of a member of the Commission include the following: (2) Act with utmost and undivided loyalty to the SSS; (2) Act with due care, extraordinary diligence and skill in the conduct of business and exercise utmost good faith in all transactions relating to his/her duties to the SSS and its properties, and in hishher dealings with and for the SSS he/she is held to the same strict rule of honesty and fair dealing between himselffherself and hisiher principal as other agent: (8) Act for the benefit of the SSS and not for hisher own benefit: (4) Not to profit as individual by virtue of his/her position and ensure that profits received by him/her from the SSS' properties or businesses revert to the S39 and to hold the same fas trustee for the benefit of the SSS and its members, (©) Avoid conflicts of interest and not to acquire an interest adverse to or in conflict with that of the SSS, while acting for the SSS or when dealing individually with third persons and declare any interest he/she may have in any particular matter before the Commission; and (6) Apply sound business principles to ensure the financial soundness of the SSS ‘The compensation, per diems, allowances and incentives of the appointive members of the Commission shall he in accordance with and subject to GCG Law.(®) The general conduct of the operations and ‘management functions of the SSS shall be vested in the SSS President who shall serve as the Chief Executive Officer immediately responsible for carrying out the program of the SSS and the policies of the Commission. The S88 President shall be appointed by the President of the Philippines and shall bbe @ person of known competence, probity, integrity and recognized expertise in social security, pension fund, insurance, investment, banking and finanee, economies, management, law or actuarial science, ‘The SSS President may be removed for a valid cause or any of the following reasons in accordance with the requirement of due process: (1) If he or she becomes physically or mentally incapacitated from discharging the duties and responsibilities of the office, and such incapacity has lasted for more than six (©) months; (2) If he or she is guilty of acts or omissions which are of fraudulent or illegal character or which are manifestly ‘opposed to the aims and interests of the SSS; (8) If he or she no longer possess the qualifications specified in this Act; (4) If he or she does not meet the standards of performance based on the evalugtion by the Governance Commission for GOCCs under the GCG Law. (©) An Office of the Actuary chall be ereated to conduct ‘the necessary actuarial studies and present recommendations on premiums, investments and other related matters. ‘The Commission, upon the recommendation of the SSS Presiden‘, shall appoint the Chief Actuary and such other personnel as may be deemed necessary; prescribe their duties and establish such methods and procedures as may be necessary to ensure the efficient, honest and economical administration of the provisions and purposes of this Act: Provided, however, That the personnel of the SES below the rank of Vice-President shall be appointed by the SSS President: Provided, further, That the personnel appointed by the SSS President, except those below the rank of assistant manager, shall be subject to the confirmation by the Commission: Provided, further, That the personnel of the SSS shall be selected only from civil service eligibles and be subject to civil service rules and regulations: Provided, finally, That the SSS shall be exempt from the provisions of Republic Act No. 6758 and Republic Act No. 7430. The Chief Actuary of the SSS can only be removed by just causes which inelude among others gross incompetence ‘grose inefficiency, disloyalty, conflict of interest, dishonesty “and serious misconduct, (@) The Commission shall fix the reasonable compensation, allowances and other benefits of all positions in the SSS including its President and Chief Executive Officer, based on a comprehensive job analysis and audit of actual duties and responsibilities. The compensation plan shall be comparable with the prevailing compensation plan in the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS), the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) and other government financial institutions and shall be subject to periodic review by the Commission no more than once every four (4) years without prejudice to merit reviews or increases based on productivity and efficiency SBC. 4. Powers and Duties of the Commission and SSS. ~ (a) The Commission. ~ For the attainment of its main objectives as set forth in Section 2 hereof, the Commission hall have the following powers and duties: () To formulate, adopt, amend and/or rescind such rules and regulations as may be necessary to carry out the provisions and purposes of this Act (2) To establish a Provident Fund for the members which will consist of contributions of employers and employees, self. employed, OFW and voluntary members based on (i) the SSS contribution rate in excess of twelve percent (12%). or Gi) monthly salary credit in excess of Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) up to the preseribed maximum monthly salary credit and their earnings, for the payment af benefits to such members or their beneficiaries in addition to the benefits provided for under this Act: Provided, That a member may contribute voluntarily in excess of the prescribed SSS contribution rate and/or the maximum monthly salary credit, subject to such rules and regulations as the Commission may promulgate: