5/19/2021 E-Library - Information At Your Fingertips: Printer Friendly May we ask from the SSS? For example, mayroon po tayong seafarer, one seaman, for example, paano po ba iyong [SSS coverage] mga agreements na ito? If you're going to look in the eyes of this particular seafarer, paano po nangyayari sa kanya iyong mga [SSS coverage] agreements na ito? Ms. See. Thank you, Madam Chair. Actually, the arrangement is that, typically, the manning agency in the Philippines access the employer of the sea-based workers. So as any other local employer in the Philippines, they report to SSS the sea-based workers that they deploy. Okay. And they deduct supposed to be from the employee's salary and remit to SSS. So[,] in practice, there are problems in enforcement and implementation in that–there are actually sea-based workers who are not reported and registered to SSS. In fact, based on the latest statistics that we have, only about 60 percent are reported to SSS. And there are about 40 percent of sea-based workers who are deployed who are not reported by the manning agencies and the foreign principal. That is the reason why we would like to make this mandatory and on our own enforce the coverability of the sea-based workers because – as of now, because it is voluntary under our law, we rely on the regulatory agency to enforce that provision under the contract. xxxx The Presiding Officer. So right now they are supposed to be giving mandatory contributions to the SSS. But, according to the SSS, we only have 60 percent coverage. There are 40 percent still that have yet to contribute. Am I clarified po? Sa lahat na po ng seafarers coming from the merchant ships and from the cruise ships regardless of whether or not they are actually, well, engaged in the actual work as a seafarer, iyong nagmamaneho talaga ng barko, are all considered seafarers after August 12, 2014 and, thus, they should have by now voluntary members of the SSS– sorry, mandatory members of the SSS. But right now ang coverage po natin sa kanila is 60 percent only; 40 percent pa ang iko-cover po natin. Ms. See. Actually, let me correct that, Madam Chair. I have the exact figures here as of June 2017. Out of the 442,820 deployments, reported for SSS coverage only number 207,729, so[,] that's 47 percent po. That is only on the basis of the list of deployments of the POEA. The Presiding Officer. Forty-seven percent lang po ang covered? Ms. See. Yes po. That is based on the POEA deployment po.[47] (emphases supplied) https://elibrary.judiciary.gov.ph/thebookshelf/showdocsfriendly/1/66432 17/28