SSS branches back at max capacity—Ignacio (Sabong News)

State-run Social Security System (SSS) said all its branches in areas under Alert Level 1 will be in full operations to address the influx of transacting members, particularly in certain branches in Metro Manila. “With the reduction in Covid-19 alert levels, we are now in 100 percent operational capacity since all our employees are tasked to their offices,” Aurora C. Ignacio, SSS president and chief executive officer said on Saturday, March 5. Ignacio’s announcement comes after some 100 SSS members reportedly camped outside the pension fund’s Diliman Branch along East Avenue in Quezon City before the break on Friday. The SSS chief said all members who lined outside Diliman branch were all accommodated. She added that the state fund agency will continue to monitor the number of members personally transacting in SSS branches. “We will evaluate the situation to determine if there is a need to further extend service hours and hold special operations on Saturdays,” Ignacio said. As this developed, SSS emphasizes its call for members, claimants, and the transacting public to use the agency’s online facilities such as My.SSS and SSS Mobile App for their various transactions with the state pension fund. “We continue to recognize the health, safety and security concerns of our members even if the Covid-19 alert levels have been reduced. We urge them to make full use of the agency’s online facilities, especially the My.SSS portal,” she said. “There are more than 30 member services available on My.SSS. They can even access some of these services on the SSS Mobile App,” she added. The SSS president explained that there is priority given to online branch appointment holders. Members may use the appointment system in My.SSS to indicate the preferred date and time that they want to be accommodated in their chosen SSS branch. The branches have been tasked to set up special lanes for those holding online appointments. SSS has been accepting online submissions for several transactions through My.SSS since 2011. My.SSS is the pension fund’s online service portal which can be found on the SSS website. The “File Anywhere” policy of the state pension fund remains in effect. This allows SSS members to transact at the nearest branch of their choice. Currently, there are 58 branches in the National Capital Region, about 135 branches in Luzon, 44 branches in Visayas, and 44 branches in Mindanao. SSS also explained that the agency has digitalized all processing of claim and loan applications in all its 281 branches nationwide, not just in the SSS Diliman branch. Ignacio, however, pointed out that processing of SSS transactions is based on the documents submitted by transacting members.