Workers in the entertainment industry will soon be covered by Social Security System following an agreement signed between the state-run pension fund and the Katipunan ng mga Artistang Pilipino sa Pelikula at Telebisyon (KAPPT) or the Actors Guild of the Philippines last week.
In a statement Thursday, the SSS said 1,600 workers in television as well as movie production will be covered by “ArtistaSSSya.”
Under the memorandum of agreement between the SSS and KAPPT, self-employed KAPPT members—actors, actresses, singers, producers, stage personalities, commercial artists as well as stunt men—will have compulsory SSS coverage, hence should also remit their respective contributions.
“Under the agreement, the SSS will designate an account officer who will conduct on-site registration of all qualified KAPPT members. The account officer will also facilitate all SSS transactions, such as processing of registration forms; receipt of reports, application forms and other SSS documents; and enrollment to the unified multipurpose identification (Umid) card,” the SSS explained.
Also, the SSS said it “will conduct information seminars and provide SSS reference materials to KAPPT to educate its members.”
“Orientations will be held to teach KAPPT members how to use the SSS online facility to check their personal records as well as payment options,” the SSS added.
“Given their wide degree of influence, KAPPT will act as advocate of social security protection by educating its members with SSS programs, policies, benefits, and privileges using their website, social media sites and newsletter. The organization is required to create an SSS corner in KAPPT areas, districts, and chapters,” according to the SSS.
The SSS quoted KAPPT president Imelda Papin as saying that “to encourage SSS membership, the association will pay for the initial contributions of its members.”
“The board decided to pay the initial SSS contributions of the first 250 active members to encourage others to join so that each one of us can say ‘na nakasandal na kami sa pader.’ It is a blessing that the SSS provided us an office which will be home of Filipino artists,” according to Papin.
“Art is the highest form of expression so we should take care of our people in the movie industry. We must ensure that they will have a secure future especially when they retire,” SSS chair Amado Valdez, for his part, said. JE