Introduction Independent workers in the Philippines
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Philipinas: The use of information technologies in extending coverage
Since 1980, the SSS has been gradually incorporating independent workers into its legal coverage. Currently, coverage is mandatory for independent professionals, business
owners, farmers, fishermen, independent arts professionals, professional athletes, street vendors, and others Mahidol Migration Centre et al., 2011. Such a requirement for
mandatory registration is in itself an innovation when compared to other countries in Southeast Asia, where social insurance registration is voluntary.
The benefits provided for independent workers are established in the Social Security Programme SS, and include maternity, disability, old age, and death services, as well as
burial benefits. Furthermore, the SSS has an additional programme called the Employee´s Compensation Program CE, the benefits of which are limited to employed workers
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. Regarding the extension of coverage to independent workers, up until 2009 the SSS
had incorporated approximately 15 per cent of the independent EAP, which translated into 1.8 million covered workers. Figure 12 displays information on the evolution of coverage
rates
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.
Figure 12. Philippines: Independent workers, active social insurance contributors in thousands, and
SSS coverage percentage. 2000-2009
Source: Drawn up on the basis of Orbeta 2011:30.
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Benefits include a double compensation for workers who have suffered from contingencies such as sickness, death, and working accidents. To access such benefits, employers pay an additional 10
Philippine peso 10 PhP per month, with some exceptions.
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The total SSS coverage registered in 2009 amounted to around 28.5 per cent of the working EAP, excluding civil servants. This percentage translates into around 8.6 million active contributors,
although this population should be added with around 197 thousand contributors of the Overseas Filipino Workers scheme OFW.
Innovations in extending social insurance coverage to independent workers
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Between 2000 and 2009, the coverage of independent workers increased about 36 per cent, although with a relatively irregular tendency in the last years Orbeta,
2011. Similarly to other social security systems operating in developing countries, coverage is mainly centred in men, who represent approximately 60 per cent of all active
contributors.
Until 2012, there were around 4.4 million independent workers registered in the institution, which shows a significant effort towards increasing registration in the
programme.