ILOILO CITY — Top officials of the Social Security System (SSS) central office on Monday issued show cause orders to 11 employers in this city and Pavia town in Iloilo province for non-compliance with the mandatory provisions of Republic Act No. 11199, or the Social Security Act.
The “Run After Contributions Evaders” or RACE Team aims to raise awareness of the employers’ responsibility to their employees, said SSS president and chief executive officer Aurora Ignacio.
“We want to spread awareness among the business community that there is such a law that was recently passed and even before we are mandated if you have business, whether small or big, we are mandated to register our employees to pay contribution for them so they would reap the benefits of whatever the SSS will allow them,” Ignacio told the Philippine News Agency in an interview.
Ignacio, along with Judge Voltaire Agas, chief legal counsel of SSS and Lawyer Renato Jacinto Cuisia, acting vice president of the Legal Operations Services Divisions 1 and 2 of the agency led the RACE Team operation that first issued the show cause order to Ted’s Old Timer Lapaz Batchoy Inc. on Valeria Street here.
Cuisia explained that the establishment is ordered to show cause within a non-extendable period of 15 days from Monday for its non-remittance of SSS contributions.
“There is a penal provision in the law that states that they can be administratively charged if they fail to comply,” Ignacio said.
The team issued the same show cause order to MD Force Security Agency, Inc. at Asico Compound, Luna Street in this city’s La Paz district; Puricare Industrial Entrerprises in Aganan, Pavia; Tamaraw Metal Craft on Gonzaga Street, Pavia; Appoland’s Pizza, Reymaries Bread, and HDH Merchandising, all in Aganan, Pavia; I-Buy Novelty, Pancit-Pancit, and Uncle Serbad’s Lechon House, all at the second floor GT Town Center Mall in Pavia; and One Star Household Merchandise at Q. Abeto Street in this city’s Mandurriao district.
Violations committed by the said establishments range from non-remittance of contributions, lapses in remittance of contribution, and underreporting of employees.
Noly Hortarciego, proprietor of Tamaraw Metal Craft, said he will “settle” their violations with the SSS.
Cuisia said the Tamaraw Metal Craft had incurred a PHP500,000 penalty for non-remittance of contributions. It also stated that it had only two employees “but they have more or less 20 employees,” he noted.
“We have received notices from the SSS but we were not able to settle because we are preoccupied with our daily tasks. We will settle with the SSS within this week,” Hortarciego said.
Ignacio said the operation should serve as a call for employers to stop denying the rights of their employees.
“We are not giving them their right to receive benefits from giving birth to their supposed pension, and other benefits like the salary and pension loans,” she said.
Agas, meanwhile, said employees should not be afraid to report employers who do not comply with the law.
“They can give us details even anonymously and we have accounts officers to check with their employers whether they are registered or not,” he said.
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