SSS 13th month pension: who gets it and when

SSS pays every pensioner a 13th month pension each December. It equals one month of your pension plus the PHP 1,000 benefit allowance (implementing rules of RA 11199, Rule 21 Sec. 4). SSS credits it automatically to the same account as your monthly pension, so there is nothing to file.

Who gets it

SSS says the 13th month pension “is automatically credited to the accounts of all SSS pensioners receiving retirement, disability, and survivorship pensions” (SSS news, 9 December 2025). The implementing rules set it out for each:

• Retirement pensioners (Rule 21 Sec. 4). SSS’s retirement page says it has been paid every December since 1988.
• Permanent disability pensioners (Rule 23 Sec. 8).
• Survivors: the primary beneficiaries of a member who died, usually the spouse and dependent children (Rule 22 Sec. 4).

It goes only to people receiving a monthly pension, so a member who took the one-time lump sum for fewer than 120 contributions does not get it.

How much it is

The same in each case: “the amount of the monthly pension due and additional benefit allowance”. So it is your monthly pension plus the PHP 1,000, in one extra payment.

The rules do not say it includes the dependants’ pension paid for children, so do not count on that part.

Because it follows your monthly pension, the 2025 to 2027 increases raise it too. SSS said the December 2025 payment was higher for pensioners as of 31 August 2025, after the first 10% increase. The 2026 increase applied from June 2026 for most pensioners (SSS Circular 2026-002). Since the rules tie the 13th month to the monthly pension due, the December 2026 payment should follow the higher pension, though SSS had not said so for 2026 on the checked date. Details are on the SSS pension increase page.

When it is credited

In December each year. In 2025, SSS paid it in two batches:

1 December 2025: about 2.13 million pensioners

PHP 10.5 billion

4 December 2025: about 1.53 million pensioners

PHP 8.3 billion

SSS announces each year’s dates itself. For December 2026, watch SSS’s news page or your My.SSS account.

If you took the 18-month advance

When you first file for retirement, you can take your first 18 monthly pensions as one discounted lump sum. The implementing rules say the 13th month pension is not included in that advance (Rule 21 Sec. 3), so it is still paid separately each December. SSS Circular 2022-030 sets the date: “The date of crediting of the 13th month pension of pensioners who availed of the advance 18-month pension for their initial benefit shall be on the 4th day of December.” The choice itself is explained in lump sum or monthly pension.

The SSS pension guide explains how the monthly amount is worked out, and the SSS guide for OFWs covers the rest of SSS.