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| Photo from Concept News Central |
The maximum maternity financial assistance a mother could receive will go as high as 70,000 pesos by the beginning of the year 2020. It is the result of the implementation of Republic Act No. 11210, also known as Expanded Maternity Leave Act and SSS Act of 2018.
Increase in SSS Benefits
The announcement was from SSS President and CEO Aurora Ignacio. According to her, the increase in SSS benefits that a member could receive is due to the implementation of the new minimum and maximum monthly salary credit.
She also adds that the number of mothers who enjoy the maternity expanded benefits has already reached 122,000 from the time that Expanded Maternity Leave Act was implemented. This number is equal to P2.67 billion of maternity benefits from January to August 2019. The benefit is significantly higher by 15.09 percent than in the same months of the previous year.
Before, the maximum maternity benefits a mother could receive is just 32,000 pesos. Thanks to the Expanded Maternity Leave Act, the amount increases by more than 200 percent.
Expanded paid maternity leave
To recall, in February 2019, President Rodrigo Duterte had already signed the bill into law, that expands the benefits of all the mothers. The Republic Act No. 11210 did not just increase the amount a mother could claim but also stretched out the maternity leave.
The newly approved law states that working mothers in the government and private sector are entitled with 105 days of maternity leave credits, plus seven days transferable to fathers. For single mothers, they could have an additional 15 days of paid leave.
Under the previous law, employed women are allowed to have paid maternity leave of 60 days normal delivery and 78 days for the caesarean case.
Women's victory
The expanded leave purpose is for all the mothers to have a longer time to rest from the pregnancy and to better feed her child. Senator Risa Honteveros, the author of the bill, said that the law is a "massive victory for women and their families."
Source: ABS-CBN News
