A trial court sentenced the owner of a Quezon City-based food company to a maximum of eight years in jail for failure to pay contributions to the Social Security System (SSS) for more than two years.
Judge Vivencio Baclig also ordered Norma Flores, President of the Royal East Food Corporation, to pay a total of P94,874 in unpaid contributions including the three percent monthly penalty, and P20,000 fine.
“The evidence for the prosecution clearly show that the Royal East Food Corporation was delinquent in the remittance of the contributions it is mandated to pay to the SSS,” Baclig said in his three-page decision.
The court found Royal East delinquent in remitting employees’ SSS contributions from December 1998 to October 2001. Flores pleaded not guilty during her arraignment on February 2004, but she failed to present evidence for her defense.
In his testimony, SSS account officer Enrique del Carmen said the company failed to comply with its own proposal to pay the delinquency by installment, and the pension fund went to court in 2002.
Employers who violate the Social Security Law face up to 12 years in prison and fines ranging from P5,000 to P20,000 on top of the corresponding penalties.
Under the law, employers should pay premiums on or before the 10th day after the applicable month to avoid a three percent monthly penalty.
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