Filipino payment site secure

Danilo Calape of the Philippines social-security scheme in his Abu Dhabi office. Christopher Pike / The National

ABU DHABI // Filipino expatriates have been assured that a website where they can make payments towards their pensions has been fixed.

Following a story last week that said many Filipinos were not paying enough towards their social-security scheme (SSS), The National received several complaints that the online system was broken.

“We were experiencing frequent downtimes on our website for the past few weeks, it was due to maintenance procedures. However, it has been fixed now,” said Danilo Calape, the SSS officer in charge in Abu Dhabi.

When the website is down, he said, Filipinos could visit the SSS office in Abu Dhabi to make a payment.

“We have a separate access, where members can visit us or call regarding their inquiries.”

Others said they refused to pay into the scheme because they believed their country’s government was corrupt and would squander their savings.

Mr Calape said this was not the case. “SSS has been very prudent in serving its members, including overseas Filipinos.” He said that the scheme had more than 2.1 million pensioners on its books.

“About 40 per cent of this number are those retired pensioners, and this does not include the short-term benefits that SSS is giving to its qualified members.”

He said the SSS’s assets stood at more than 444 billion Philippine pesos (Dh36bn). “They can be assured of their contributions as savings for themselves and for their family.”

The scheme was founded in 1957 and offers retirement payouts and health benefits to those who have made contributions of between Dh50 and Dh150 a month.