SSS, Saudi FilCom sign OFW social security pact

MANILA, June 30 — The Philippines’ Social Security System (SSS) has signed a partnership with a Saudi Arabia-based Filipino community organization to encourage more overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) to enroll in the state-run pension program, expanding its membership drive in the Middle East.

The memorandum of understanding (MOU), signed on June 22 with the OFW Council of Leaders, mobilizes more than 100 Filipino group leaders across Saudi Arabia to promote SSS membership and social security benefits among migrant workers and their families, the SSS said in a statement.

The agreement marks the first formal partnership between the SSS and a Filipino community group network in the Middle East aimed at promoting the agency’s programs and services, according to the SSS.

SSS Vice President for Asia, Americas and Pacific Operations Division Paul Erik D. Manalo and OFW Council of Leaders Director-General Mofiedah R. Daknash led the signing ceremony.

“The MOU signing marks a milestone, as the OFW Council of Leaders is the first Filipino community group network in the Middle East to enter a formal partnership with the SSS to promote its programs and services,” Manalo said in the statement.

The SSS said the initiative forms part of its broader campaign to expand social security coverage among overseas Filipino workers in the Middle East, one of the country’s largest destinations for migrant labor.

Also present during the signing were Acting Executive Vice President for Branch Operations Sector Antonio S. Argabioso, Acting Vice President for Middle East and Europe Operations Division Roberto V. Roldan, Overseas Filipino Workers Management Department Manager III Francis Paolo P. Lazaro, and OFW Council of Leaders member Ruby Dizon.

(This report is based on information released by the Social Security System)