The Social Security System (SSS) has signed a partnership with the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) to expand social security coverage to virtual assistants and freelancers. The arrangement covers around 1.5 million digital freelance workers in the Philippines.
Virtual assistants and freelancers are encouraged to register as self-employed SSS members. Registered members become eligible for sickness, maternity, disability, retirement, funeral and death benefits.
What freelancers will pay
The SSS contribution rate is 15 percent. For self-employed members, the monthly salary credit used to determine contributions ranges from ₱5,000 to ₱35,000.
The minimum monthly contribution is ₱760. That amount is made up of ₱750 for the regular SSS contribution and ₱10 for the Employees’ Compensation contribution.
The highest monthly contribution is ₱5,280. It consists of ₱3,000 for the regular SSS contribution, ₱30 for Employees’ Compensation and ₱2,250 for the Mandatory Provident Fund.
The Employees’ Compensation Program covers work-related sickness, disability or death. The Mandatory Provident Fund is a retirement savings plan for SSS members whose monthly salary credit exceeds ₱20,000.
In a press release in September, the SSS said the average basic monthly pension was ₱5,704 as of July 2026. The figure includes the ₱1,000 benefit for Social Security pensioners and ₱1,150 for Employees’ Compensation pensioners.
SSS president and chief executive officer Victor Alfonso Limlingan said: “Freelancers and virtual assistants are an important and growing segment of our workforce,”
“By bringing them into the SSS coverage, we ensure that they, too, can access the same protection and benefits enjoyed by other workers,” Limlingan said.
