ON APRIL 12, 2019, the Anawim Home for Abandoned Elderly in Montalban, Rizal, happily, warmly welcomed the officers and personnel of the Social Security System.
The Philippine Social Security System (SSS) in Filipino is Paseguruhan ng Kapanatagang Panlipunan.
So, if you are an SSS member, sigurado ka, panatag ka.
Anawim is one of the spin-off ministries of the Light of Jesus Family, a faith community founded by lay preacher Bro. Bo Sanchez.
Bro. Bo chose the word anawim as the name of the Home for the Abandoned Elderly because the word is the plural form of an Old Testament Hebrew word translated as poor or afflicted.
Abandoned, the lolos and lolas Anawim takes care of had nowhere to go, no means to live comfortably and with dignity.
In Anawim, they now live in resort-like cottages with a clean bed for each of the lolos and lolas.
The Anawim residents– as the lolos and lolas are called– enjoy nutritious meals which include fresh vegetables, as Anawim has a Halamanan, a vegetable garden, and freshly-caught fish, as Anawim also has a fishpond.
Priscilla Tibor, Nursing/Caregiving head; Arsenia Binohhi, center social worker;
Aida Dy, Board member; Myrna Tropezado, administration head;
Lynda Reyes, Board member; Carlos Dimson, center director;
and Babes Zambrano, spiritual adviser.
Social workers, health professionals, caregivers attend to the lolos and lolas day in and day out. Volunteers from The Feast, the weekly prayer gathering of the Light of Jesus Family, come to Anawim as pilgrims to cheer up the lolos and lolas, to make them feel that they are not really abandoned.
Most important, daily Worship and Prayer sessions, Sunday Mass, and pastoral care provide their much-needed spiritual nourishment, God’s Unconditional Love.
Government Compassion
Coming to Anawim, SSS, the state-run social insurance program, in essence, has also made the elderly feel not only God’s Love but the warm compassionate arm of government.
So now, they can well declare the expression of appreciation,“Sulit na sulit sa SSS,” now the new shout out of SSS under the leadership of newly installed SSS President and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Aurora Cruz Ignacio (above).
The SSS program is remarkable, the best that can ever happen for retirees.
The SSS program is for workers in the private, professional, and informal sectors, established by virtue of Republic Act No.1161, better known as the Social Security Act of 1954. This law was later amended by Republic Act No. 8282 in 1997.
Aside from the insurance program, SSS also implements the Employees’ Compensation (EC) Program, which provides double compensation to workers who had illness, death or accident during work-related activities.
SSS members can make salary or calamity loans.
In 2017, President Rodrigo Duterte approved the SSS pension increase of Php 1,000 for more than 2.2 million SSS pensioners.
Of late, SSS increased savings rate for higher retirement benefits in the contribution schedule, in accordance with the newly signed Social Security Act of 2018, implemented starting April 1, 2019.
SSS President Aurora Ignacio welcomed the adjustment of the contribution rates and monthly salary credits which allow members to save more for their retirement. According to news reports the law is expected to generate an additional P31 billion for the pension fund.
Knowledge and Virtue
Ignacio brings to SSS notable expertise in governance. Online news reports say Ignacio is no stranger to SSS. She served as Social Security Commission chair and was also the first woman to head the governing board of the SSS.
According to her curriculum vitae posted on the SSS website, Ignacio holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, Banking, and Finance from Centro Escolar University, which is well known for its core principle of Ciencia y Virtud, or Knowledge and Virtue. So, SSS is assured that it has at its helm a woman who has the two important traits needed in persons of authority in government: capacity and character, especially a heart for the poor
Love Offering
Amorsolo Competente, president of ACCESS, the SSS Employees’ Union, hands SSS donation to Anawim Executive Director Bro. Hermie Morelos. SSS gave donation in kind– food stuff, medicine, medical supplies and apparatus, hot water container, beds, mattresses, pillows, grooming kits and toiletries– all amounting to P544, 450.70.
“This is not just a simple donation,” Competente said. “We call it Alay ng Pag-Ibig or Love Offering.”
For indeed the donation came not from the SSS official fund but from individual contributions of SSS officers, managers, and employees.
Competente said giving such donations is not new for the SSS personnel who in the past had been the first to respond to appeals for help for victims of disasters and political conflicts.
In effect SSS has well-extended the benefits of the social security program to the Anawim elderly who, for one reason or another, missed out on the opportunity to have a retirement pension.
Sunshine for the Elderly
Accepting the donation in behalf of the Anawim elderly, Anawim Executive Director Bro. Hermie Morelos expressed deep gratitude for the SSS support.
He said the SSS donation will greatly help sustain the Anawim operations, which at present costs some P18,000 per elderly per month.
Bro. Hermie narrated an anecdote of a boy named Michael whose mother was pregnant. She told Michael the baby in her womb would be his baby sister. Pregnancy complications threatened the life of the baby. So, every day, Michael lovingly caressed his mommy’s tummy, singing the song You Are My Sunshine to encourage his sister to hang on to dear life— and indeed, the baby survived.
“As Michael had given life to his sister, so have you given our Anawim elderly a new lease on life,” Bro. Hermie told the SSS officers and personnel.
Promise for the Meek
By the way, other translations of the word anawim are humble or meek.
In His Sermon on the Mount where He declared the now famous Beatitudes, Jesus addressed the anawim, as the humble and meek when He said, Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.
Jesus also addressed those who, having the poor in their heart, relentlessly take care of the anawim. He said, Blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5: 3, 5).
So, SSS officers and personnel, by supporting Anawim, have indeed assured for themselves a haven in God’s kingdom. And up there, the angels may also be saying, “Sulit na sulit sa SSS!”
— Cynthia U. Santiago Photos by Ed L. Santiago
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