The Social Security System (SSS) is preparing to earmark ₱40 billion for a new loan program that will help members finance residential solar panel installations, SSS President and CEO Robert Joseph M. de Claro said.
The program, called the Energy Sustainability Loan, is designed under the country’s renewable energy laws and is expected to initially cover around 100,000 households. Loan amounts will range from ₱300,000 to ₱400,000, payable over four to seven years.
“We’re looking at a maximum of ₱300,000 to ₱400,000, payable in four to seven years,” de Claro said in a recent interview. SSS is still finalizing the program’s operational guidelines.
On borrowing costs, de Claro said the interest rate has yet to be finalized but would be set slightly above the prevailing Treasury bill rate, which he placed at roughly 5.5 percent. He noted that SSS loans cannot carry zero interest by law, given the fund’s obligation to generate a minimum return on its investments.
De Claro said SSS is targeting a formal announcement in September, with implementation expected by the end of 2026 or in early 2027. “Personally, I’m targeting September to announce it. Maybe the implementation might be at the end of this year or early next year. But we’re already crafting the rules,” he said.
The program comes as more Filipino households turn to rooftop solar systems to offset rising electricity costs, which have climbed following energy market disruptions tied to the conflict in the Middle East. A report from UK-based energy think tank Ember found that the Philippines has become China’s second-largest export market for solar panels, with rooftop solar capacity nearly doubling to about 1,300 megawatts by early 2026, up from 721 MW a year earlier. Chinese customs data separately showed the Philippines imported $407 million worth of solar panels from China between March and May.
De Claro also said SSS will evaluate next year whether to extend its Pension Reform Program beyond its scheduled 2027 completion, though no formal discussions with the Department of Finance have taken place. The program, launched in September 2025, provides phased pension increases without raising member contributions and is set to deliver a cumulative 33 percent increase for retirement and disability pensioners and 16 percent for death and survivor pensioners by 2027.
SSS reported that its net income rose 58.4 percent to ₱142.97 billion in 2025, while its reserve funds surpassed ₱1 trillion for the first time. The agency has yet to release its financial results for the first two quarters of 2026.
