IN the eyes of Rolando Macasaet, president and chief executive of the Social Security System (SSS), no Filipino is too far away, whether in the Philippines or elsewhere in the world, not to be reached by the state pension fund.
Exhibit A: In a press briefing, Macasaet announced that the SSS would grant calamity loan assistance to SSS-member overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) displaced by the 7.4-magnitude that jolted Taiwan on April 3.
Exhibit B: The SSS reached out to the families of three OFWs who died in an unprecedented massive flooding in Dubai, the United Arab Emirates.
Exhibit C: The SSS gave assurance on social security coverage for all Filipino seafarers and maritime professionals following formation of the Maritime Industry Tripartite Council among labor organizations, manning agencies, ship operators and concerned government agencies.
Hence, it may be said that this Zamboanga-born SSS hombre was the most pro-active administrator of the pension fund. He tirelessly pushes programs meant to promote and further strengthen SSS programs and initiatives.
Under his leadership, the agency rolled out KaSSSangga Collect Program geared at providing insurance coverage and protection for non-organic or temporary government employees, notwithstanding the fact that under its Charter, SSS was created to serve mainly the private sector workforce.
Thus, more than 500,000 government workers under job order and contract of service arrangements not covered by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) were given SSS insurance.
The SSS also forged partnerships with local government units in setting up internet-based desks or e-centers to access all communities across the country, further bolstered by the SSSeWheels described as a “mobile service program that brings SSS services closer to far-flung communities.”
Macasaet and his team also maintain municipal hall dialogues with stakeholders nationwide.
Essentially, he covers all bases to see to it that the SSS enjoys a seamless journey of public service under his watch as the 20th chief of the pension fund, having been appointed to the post on Jan. 5, 2023.
Prior to that, he was president and general manager of the GSIS for three years during the watch of then President Rodrigo Duterte.
“President Ferdinand R. Marcos has high expectations from us to provide guaranteed safety nets to the Filipino people. We have to work doubly hard so we could provide our current members and pensioners on what is just and due to them without putting in jeopardy the financial protection of current members and future pensioners,” he said.
A run-through of Macasaet’s track records showed that he mustered vast experience in public service following his appointed as GSIS chief from 2019 to 2022, and as chairman of the same entity in 2018.
He also served in various leadership capacities in government-owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), such as Philippine National Construction Corp., Dasmariñas Industrial Steel Corp., Skyway Corp. and Tierra Factors Corp. from 1988 to 2005.
He also had a stint as Philippine National Bank (PNB) as vice president and general manager in Los Angeles, California and regional vice president-ASEAN in Singapore. He was corporate account manager of the BMO Bank of Montreal and president and vice chairman of Philippine Postal Bank.
He was a board member of various private companies such as San Miguel Corp., Bank of Commerce, Private Infrastructure and Development Corporation, PCI Bank, John Hay Management Corp., Manila Hotel, Philippine Stock Exchange, Philex Mining Corp., among others. He sits on the board of Union Bank and the PLDT Inc.
Macasaet has Bachelor of Science in Business Economics and Master’s in Business Administration- honors program from the University of the Philippines. He completed an executive program in Finance at the Columbia University, New York and received his diploma in Management Development from the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
