FACT CHECK: No schedule yet for the release of SSS pensioners’ 13th-month pay

Claim: The Social Security System (SSS) has released the payout schedule for the 13th-month benefits and monthly pensions of eligible members.

Rating: FALSE

Why we fact-checked this: The video bearing the claim was posted on November 5 on the Balitang Pinas YouTube channel, which has 565,000 subscribers. The video has 61, 275 views and 1,200 likes as of writing.

The video’s title bears the claim, “ATTENTION ALL SENIORS & PENSIONERS! SSS 13TH MONTH PENSION, IBIBIGAY NA! ALAMIN ANG PAYOUT SCHEDULE.”

(Attention all seniors and pensioners! 13th-month pension will be given now! Find out the payout schedule.)

The facts: The SSS has yet to release the payout schedule. According to Maria Cecilia Mercado, social security officer at the SSS Media Affairs Department, the claim about the payout schedule of the 13th-month benefits is false. 

She confirmed through a call with Rappler that the SSS had not made any official announcement regarding the matter. Mercado added that the details about the 13th-month pay and benefits would be released in the last week of November yet.

In 2022, the SSS announced the release of 13th-month and year-end benefits on December 1. 

SSS said it had been granting 13th-month benefits to pensioners since 1988. The amount is is equivalent to their respective monthly pensions.

Members who are eligible to receive the 13th-month pension are social security retirement pensioners, social security and employees’ compensation survivors, and total disability pensioners, including partial disability pensioners with a pension duration of not less than 12 months.

Outdated audio: The misleading video contained an outdated audio clip from the SSS Facebook Live “USAPANGSSS” segment aired on November 23, 2018. 

Official news: For official updates, refer to the official SSS website and its accounts on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube.  – Chinie Ann Jocel R. Mendoza/Rappler.com

Chinie Ann Jocel R. Mendoza is a Rappler intern under the Research unit. She is a fourth year Communication Research student at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines Sta. Mesa Manila.

This fact check was reviewed by a member of Rappler’s research team and a senior editor. Learn more about Rappler’s fact-checking mentorship program here. Keep us aware of suspicious Facebook pages, groups, accounts, websites, articles, or photos in your network by contacting us at factcheck@rappler.com. Let us battle disinformation one Fact Check at a time.