ILOILO CITY — On May 18, 2026, the Social Security System Iloilo Central Branch gathered four multi‑purpose cooperatives at Diversion 21 Hotel in Mandurriao and handed them something far more valuable than a plaque: the authority to collect contributions, process loan payments, and register new members on behalf of the agency. The simultaneous signing of a memorandum of agreement accredited the Guimaras Employees Multi‑Purpose Cooperative, Guimaras Brethren MPC, Pototan MPC, and KASAMA MPC as official SSS collecting partner agents. It was the first time the regional SSS office had onboarded four cooperatives at once.
The numbers tell a story of deliberate expansion. More than 10,000 existing cooperative members now have an accessible payment and service channel embedded in their own organizations. The agreement is expected to bring an additional 7,000 workers into the SSS system, extending social security coverage to self‑employed individuals, informal sector workers, household helpers, and others who have historically remained beyond the reach of formal financial institutions. The four cooperatives will handle contribution and loan amortization collections, member registration, My.SSS online account creation, disbursement account enrollment, and online benefit and loan applications.
Reaching the Workers Who Live Far from a Branch Office
Acting Senior Vice President of the Accounts Management Group Renato Jacinto Cuisia framed the partnership as an extension of the agency’s social mandate. “We realize that we cannot really reach out to remote areas, particularly the marginalized sectors. What better way to do this than to partner with cooperatives because we share the same goal of improving the lives of our members,” he said. “Hopefully, you realize the sincerity and good faith that we bring in this partnership. Let us help one another.”
Angelo Blancaver, Vice President of SSS Visayas West 2 Division and concurrent acting head of Visayas West 1 Division, confirmed that the simultaneous signing was a first for the region, made possible through the Iloilo Central Branch. Senior Vice President for Visayas Operations Group Alberto Montalbo, Iloilo Central Branch head Elisa Llavan, and Cuisia signed for SSS. Cooperatives sent their managers and board chairs, including Charlie Dormido and Eugene Tañedo of Pototan MPC, Carmelita Riano and Erme Jun Jumawan of KASAMA MPC, and leaders from both Guimaras cooperatives.
A Model That Courts Every Cooperative in the Country
Cuisia described the program as an outreach effort with no geographic limit. “As a manifestation of support and cooperation, our branches are courting you, practically all cooperatives nationwide. We find this very useful as part of our reaching out to our members. Through your cooperative, we can do a lot,” he said. The partnership builds on the SSS and Cooperative Development Authority’s joint efforts to authorize registered cooperatives as collecting agents, a model that shifts service delivery from centralized offices into the communities where workers already gather.
For the more than 10,000 cooperative members who previously had to travel to an SSS branch, wait in line, and navigate the bureaucracy alone, the agreement places a contribution‑payment counter inside their own cooperative office. For the 7,000 workers expected to newly enroll, it provides a pathway into a social security system they may never have entered otherwise. The four cooperatives, stretching from Pototan in central Iloilo to the island province of Guimaras, now function as satellite outposts of a social safety net that is quietly expanding one cooperative at a time.
