MANILA, Philippines — The Social Security System (SSS) has released P63.74 billion in death benefits in the first three quarters of 2026, a 10.4 percent increase from P57.74 billion in the same period last year, its top official said.
The state pension fund paid an average of P7.08 billion in death benefits each month from January to September, providing timely support to families who lost loved ones, SSS president and CEO Victor Alfonso Limlingan said.
“The rise in death benefit disbursements shows that SSS is delivering on its mandate to protect Filipino workers and their families, especially during the most difficult moments of their lives,” Limlingan said Friday.
The largest quarterly increase occurred in the third quarter of 2026, when death benefit payouts rose by nearly 5 percent from the second quarter. Growth between the first and second quarters was below 1 percent.
Limlingan attributed the third-quarter acceleration to the early implementation of the second tranche of the Pension Reform Program in June 2026, which raised the monthly pension of surviving spouses or death pensioners by 5 percent.
The number of death benefit beneficiaries climbed 5.7 percent to 1.4 million in the first nine months of 2026 from 1.3 million in the same period last year while surviving spouses or death pensioners accounted for about 89.8 percent of beneficiaries, the SSS chief executive reported.
As of September 2026, the average monthly death pension was P4,568. The minimum monthly pension stood at P2,000 while the highest was P23,422.
The death benefit is a cash benefit paid either as a monthly pension or a one-time lump sum to the beneficiaries of a deceased SSS member. A monthly pension is granted to the primary beneficiaries of a deceased member who paid at least 36 monthly contributions before the semester of death.
Members with fewer than 36 contributions leave their primary beneficiaries entitled to a one-time lump sum benefit.
In the absence of primary beneficiaries, secondary beneficiaries may receive the lump sum benefit. Meanwhile, Limlingan said funeral benefit disbursements also increased by 5 percent to P3.25 billion in the first nine months of 2026 from P3.09 billion in the same period of 2025, averaging P360.98 million in funeral benefits released every month.
The SSS said that from January to September, the number of funeral benefit beneficiaries rose 3.5 percent to 151,844 from 146,666 in the same period last year. On average, 16,872 beneficiaries received funeral benefits each month.
"Funeral benefits may be smaller than other SSS benefits, but they provide meaningful and immediate assistance to families dealing with the loss of a loved one," Limlingan said.
The funeral benefit is a cash grant intended to help cover funeral expenses upon the death of an SSS member. Claimants of deceased members with 36 or more monthly contributions may receive a variable funeral benefit ranging from P20,000 to P60,000, depending on the member's number of paid contributions and average monthly salary credit.
Both death and funeral benefit claims may be filed online through the member-claimant's My.SSS account. Non-member claimants may file their applications at any SSS branch office.
