Social Security System offices in the Visayas region extended their resources to remote communities so that residents can have easier access to social security services, including registering as members and updating their membership, its press release said.

SSS officer in charge for Western Visayas Division, Raul Casiano, said the branches in Dumaguete, Kalibo and Iloilo deployed mobile E-centers or temporary desks in far-flung areas so that services like SSS registration, salary loan application, ID capture, member data change request, and status inquiry are within reach of potential and existing members, the press release also said.

Mobile E-centers were also set up in Siquijor and Guimaras, Bayawan City in Negros Oriental, and Passi in Iloilo recently. “With this project, we expect to see more active membership as well as improved collections,” Casiano said.

The deployment of mobile E-centers, that accounted nearly 3,000 transactions from these areas, is part of the agency's initiative to cover hard-to-reach and informal sectors, he added.

Another E-center will again be established in Siquijor in September, to be handled by the SSS Dumaguete branch.

As of April 2015, SSS members in Western Visayas inched up by 3.4 percent, from 1.78 million in 2014 to 1.84 million, of which about 70 percent, or 1.25 million, are regular and household employees. About 351,384 self-employed members and 241,812 voluntary ones were also recorded.

The number of self-employed and voluntary members grew by 6.7 percent and 7.6 percent, respectively, and SSS wants to focus on those sectors under the informal economy, considering the vast number of micro and small businesses engaged in crop production and active fishery activities, Casiano said.

He added that SSS has collected P1.35 billion in contributions from Western Visayas since January 2015, or 7.6 percent higher, from the P1.25 billion collected from January to April 2014. He attributed the improved collections to the increasing presence of the agency in the region.

SSS has 14 branches and eight service offices in Antique, Aklan, Iloilo, Capiz, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, and Siquijor, the press release added.*

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