MANILA - President Rodrigo Duterte should not be pressured into meddling with the affairs of the Social Security System, a Cabinet official said Wednesday, adding even the late strongman, Ferdinand Marcos, steered clear of the pension fund.

Budget Secretary Benjamin Diokno said it was “wrong” to legislate an SSS pension increase when its proponents knew the measure would end up getting vetoed by Duterte’s predecessor, Benigno Aquino III.

“During the days of Mr. Marcos, hindi niya pinakialam yan. Marcos is the most interventionist president. Hindi niya pinakialaman ang SSS. That’s why it survived,” Diokno told ANC’s “Headstart.”

(During the days of Mr. Marcos, he didn’t meddle. Marcos is the most interventionist president. He didn’t meddle with the SSS. That’s why it survived.)

Aquino vetoed the P2,000 pension increase before he stepped down last year saying it would endanger the financial viability of the SSS.

Duterte promised to push through with the increase during the campaign and the SSS had planned to give it in two equal tranches starting this month. However, his economic managers said this should be funded internally, not with taxpayers’ money.

The SSS said the increase would be delayed as it proposed a 1.5-percent increase in contribution rates and adjusting the cap on maximum income used to compute contributions to P20,000 from P16,000.

The SSS board did Duterte a “disservice” by putting “pressure” on him to resolve the pension increase, Diokno said.

“Dapat, hindi mo siya nilalagayan ng pressure na ganun. They should have decided” he said.

(He shouldn’t be subjected to that kind of pressure. They should have decided.)

But in a DZMM interview, SSS Administrator Amado Valdez said any contribution increase should be submitted to the President for approval.

“Hopefully win-win ang manyayari diyan (there will be a win-win) with all these discussions,” Valdez said.

Duterte is studying the positions of his economic managers and the SSS on the pension increase.