[QUEZON CITY] Social Security System (SSS) President and Chief Executive Officer Rolando Ledesma Macasaet announced that he submitted his irrevocable resignation to President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. on October 4, 2024.
In his letter, Macasaet informed the President that he will be filing his Certificate of Nomination and Acceptance as partylist nominee on October 6, 2024, which by operation of law, under the rules of the Commission on Election (COMELEC) ends his tenure as PCEO on the said date.
Macasaet, likewise thanked President Marcos for the opportunity to serve as SSS PCEO and asked for his support and endorsement for SSS-GSIS Pensyonado Partylist.
Meanwhile, SSS-GSIS Pensyonado Partylist welcomed this development and said that the entire organization is happy with Macasaet’s decision to accept its nomination.
“As former chief of SSS and GSIS, Mr. Macasaet has a firm understanding of how the national pension system works and as a pensioner himself, he knows what are the limitations of these institutions – limitations which may be addressed through legislative representation.” SSS-GSIS Pensyonado Partylist spokesperson Fercival Yutan said.
According to the spokesperson, Macasaet’s impeccable track record, both in the private sector and public service, will be a huge boost in forwarding the advocacies of the organization.
Under Macasaet’s leadership, SSS boosted a string of accomplishments that include the record-breaking 2.4 million members for the first seven months of 2024, which was an increase of 923,000 compared to the same period in 2023.
Notable increases in SSS membership were also posted among the self-employed which rose to 419,000 members, while overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) increased to 10,300.
“With these awesome numbers, it is possible for SSS to hit the 5 million new members by the end of the year,” Macasaet was earlier quoted.
As SSS President and CEO, Macasaet initiated the signing of a series of Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with different sectors that included the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s (DSWD) Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4Ps), which has more than 4 million household beneficiaries, and another MOA with Angkas Philippines, which provided social security coverage to more than 30,000 motorcycle taxi riders.
Macasaet also served as President and General Manager of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) during the Duterte administration.
Being the visionary that he is, Macasaet injected innovations in the GSIS, including GWAPS, which stands for GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System — an ATM-like machine which allows pensioners and government employees to access their membership records and loan data from the state pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).
Aside from saving members’ time and money for travel, the GWAPS machine also encourages “paperless transaction” since GSIS pensioners and members can now transact and submit their loan applications to GSIS electronically via the internet.
Aside from his leadership roles in government-owned and controlled corporations from 1988 to 2005, Macasaet also has more than two decades of professional experience in financial services, banking, and public-private partnerships. He previously worked at Philippine National Bank and served as a board member of San Miguel Corp., Bank of Commerce, and Private Infrastructure and Development Corp., among others.
Macasaet obtained his bachelor’s degree in Business Economics and Master of Business Administration from the University of the Philippines – Diliman.
He then finished an Executive Program in Finance at Columbia University, New York and earned a Diploma in Management Development from the Harvard Business School in Boston, Massachusetts.
