01
Why these contributions are mandatory, not optional
Every payslip in the Philippines carries a handful of deductions that never feel optional, and three of the biggest are SSS, GSIS, and Pag-IBIG. They aren't fees or taxes in the usual sense, they're forced participation in systems designed to catch you when something goes wrong, sickness, disability, job loss, old age, or a place to live, precisely because most people, left to choose for themselves, wouldn't set that money aside on their own. This isn't unique to the Philippines either, mandatory social insurance systems built on this same basic insight, that people are bad at voluntarily saving for risks that feel distant until the day they aren't, exist in some form in most countries.