What It Means
- SSS paper losses reached nearly ₱40 billion in COA’s 2025 audit, up from ₱11.6 billion in 2021.
- Robert Joseph de Claro was SSS chief when the audit year closed and now moves to DICT, but the losses built up across four presidencies.
- SSS had no formal stop-loss thresholds, and three unnamed issuers carry about two-thirds of the losses.
- Any new exit rule means selling large blocks, which lands on minority holders of those issuers.
- Contributors carry the position while the Social Security Commission oversees the risk policy.
SSS paper losses reached nearly ₱40 billion in 2025, according to the Commission on Audit’s annual audit report. Robert Joseph de Claro was SSS president and chief executive that year. On 13 October, Marcos named him ad interim DICT secretary. The losses were not his alone, since they built up over four SSS presidencies. But the audit year closed under him, and COA found no formal stop-loss thresholds on a ₱1.27 trillion investment book.
SSS Paper Losses Are a Concentration Problem
COA’s figures show unrealized equity losses rising more than threefold from ₱11.6 billion in 2021. The report puts the exact figure at ₱39.994 billion, up 245 percent. Three unnamed companies carry ₱26.417 billion of it, about two-thirds. A telecommunications company leads at ₱17.615 billion, then a food and beverage company at ₱5.068 billion and a bank at ₱3.735 billion. That is not a broad market loss spread across a diversified book. SSS paper losses of this size come from a few large positions.
The Market Explanation Does Not Fit the Numbers
SSS calls the losses a non-cash, market-driven accounting adjustment and cites ₱204 billion in realized gains and dividends since 1968. Those figures are real and answer a different question. COA challenged the claim that a weak stock market explains the losses. The audit’s holdings data shows one telco position whose share price rose 12 percent, from ₱1,125 in 2018 to ₱1,260 in 2025, while SSS’s 11.055 million shares still carried billions in paper losses. A position that loses money while its share price rises points to what SSS paid, not to a market collapse, if that holdings data holds against the full audit. The SSS paper losses on that position would then trace to cost.
On SSS paper losses, the two sides read the same audit differently.
| Point | COA findings | SSS response |
|---|---|---|
| Loss size | ₱39.994 billion in unrealized equity losses, up 245 percent from 2021 | Non-cash and temporary |
| Cause | Challenged the weak stock market explanation | Market-driven, not mismanagement |
| Exit rule | No formal stop-loss thresholds | Long-term, diversified approach |
| Returns | ₱30.132 billion in dividends and trading gains, 2018 to 2025 | ₱204 billion in realized gains and dividends since 1968 |
The two return figures cover different periods, so neither cancels the other. COA’s figure still trails the losses by ₱9.862 billion.
No Stop-Loss Rule Means No Trigger to Act
COA found SSS had no formal stop-loss thresholds, meaning no set level at which a falling position forces a review or a sale. Under the fair value through other comprehensive income classification SSS uses for these shares, the losses sit in equity and never reach reported income. A position can sink for years with nobody required to decide anything. SSS paper losses grew from ₱11.6 billion to nearly ₱40 billion inside that arrangement.
De Claro Sat on Risk Oversight Before and During the Losses
De Claro joined the Social Security Commission in January 2023 as the employers’ representative. He also sat on its risk management and investment committee before Marcos made him SSS chief in December 2024. That places him inside the oversight structure for the last stretch of the buildup and at the head of the agency for the audit year. It does not put all of the SSS paper losses on him. COA’s reported figures compare year-end 2021 with year-end 2025 and do not split the growth by tenure. His predecessors Aurora Ignacio, Michael Regino and Rolando Macasaet held the office for the earlier years. Naming him alone misstates the record, and leaving him out misstates it too. His appointment is ad interim, which takes effect at once but still needs Commission on Appointments confirmation. Former lawmaker Carlos Isagani Zarate has already called for a congressional probe, which hands any confirmation hearing a ready line of questioning.
An Exit Rule Moves the Cost to Other Shareholders
A formal stop-loss rule closes the governance hole and opens another. SSS holds large blocks, and the telco position alone was worth ₱13.93 billion at end 2025. A rule that forces a review or sale at a set loss would mean selling blocks that size into a market that cannot absorb them quietly. Buyers would set the price, and minority holders of those issuers would take the selling pressure. SSS paper losses end one of two ways. Waiting leaves the loss with contributors for as long as the price stays below cost. Selling books it and pushes price pressure onto other holders of the same shares.
Contributors Carry a Position They Did Not Choose
Contributors do not pick the equity book. The Social Security Commission and management do. Zarate argues that flaws in portfolio risk management could put worker contributions and the fund’s solvency at risk, and SSS says it does not put member money into risky or speculative investments. Hearings on SSS paper losses will test both claims against the same audit page.
The Social Security Commission oversees investment policy, and COA found no formal exit rule. Contributors hold the position and carry the loss whether SSS sells or waits. SSS paper losses stay on the books until one of those paths is chosen, and either path moves cost onto someone else. Minority holders of three large issuers meet the selling first.
More developments that reshape the operating environment in National Signal section of Hemos PH.
