Efforts to gather the needed 194 signatures to override the presidential veto of the Social Security System (SSS) bill continue to gain ground at the House of Representatives.
A lawmaker on Thursday said at least 75 lawmakers have already signed the resolution overriding President Aquino’s veto on the measure increasing the SSS pension by P2,000.
Party-list Rep. Neri Colmenares of Bayan Muna, the main author of the bill, said he is continuously gathering signature to reach the needed votes.
Under Article VI, Section 27 of the 1987 Constitution, Congress could pass a bill into law despite the President’s veto if two-thirds of the members of each chamber vote for its approval.
At least 194 of the 291 remaining House members would have to vote to approve a vetoed measure to overturn the President’s opposition to it.
“We now have 75 congressmen supporting the resolution. We expect more support as we gather the signed resolution from the offices of many congressmen. By May 23 we hope to have the needed [194] signatures,” Senior Deputy Minority Leader Colmenares said.
“We also wish to emphasize that this is a running list and many more congressmen have expressed support for the override. We are right on track and we expect more congressmen to sign as the days pass by. We ask our senior citizens to go to their representatives and request them to support and vote in favor of override on May 23, when Congress reconvenes,” Colmenares added.
The lawmaker earlier said the lower chamber abruptly ended the session on February 3 to prevent the voting for the motion to override the controversial veto.
“By May 23, we will again push for override, and we hope that our fellow congressmen will not waste the chance to discuss, debate and eventually vote for the override, motion. We have nothing to lose because the seniors are on our side. We will give our best shot to this fight. The daily struggles of our pensioners is at stake here, and every single day counts,” Colmenares ended.
In January President Aquino vetoed the bill providing P2,000 across-the-board increase in the monthly pension of SSS pensioners and adjustment of the minimum monthly pension from P1,200 to P3,200, for members who have contributed the equivalent of 10 credited years of service (CYS), and from P2,400 to P4,000, for those with at least 20 CYS.
The President was worried that the stability of the SSS would be compromised if he would allow the pension hike of 2.1 million pensioners.