Section 21. Remittance of contributions. —

1. The contributions imposed in the preceding sections shall be remitted to the SSS within the first seven days of each calendar month following the month for which they are applicable or within such time as the Commission may prescribe. Every employer required to deduct and to remit such contributions shall be liable for their payment, and if any contribution is not paid to the SSS, as herein prescribed, he shall pay besides the contribution a penalty thereon of three per cent per month from the date the contribution falls due until paid. If deemed expedient and advisable by the Commission, the collection and remittance of contributions shall be made quarterly or semi-annually in advance, the contributions payable by the employees to be advanced by their respective employers: Provided, That upon separation of an employee, any contributions so paid in advance but not due shall be credited or refunded to his employer.

2. The contributions payable under this Act in cases where an employer refuses or neglects to pay the same shall be collected by the SSS in the same manner as taxes are made collectible under the National Internal Revenue Code, as amended. Failure or refusal of the employer to pay or remit the contributions herein prescribed shall not prejudiced the right of the covered employee to the benefits of the coverage.

   The right to institute the necessary action against the employer may be commenced within twenty (20) years from the time the delinquency is known or the assessment is made by the SSS, or from the time the benefit accrues, as the case may be.

3. Should any person, natural or juridical, default in any payment of contributions, the Commission may also collect the same in either of the following ways:

   1. By an action in court, which shall hear and dispose of the case in preference to any other civil action, or

   2. By issuing a warrant to the Sheriff of any province or city commanding him to levy upon and sell any real and personnel property of the debtor. The Sheriff's sale by virtue of said warrant shall be governed by the same procedure prescribed for executions against property upon judgments by a court of records.

4. The last complete record of monthly contributions paid by the employer of the average of the monthly contributions paid during the past three years as of the date of filing of the action for collection shall be presumed to be the monthly contributions payable by and due from the employer to the SSS for each of the unpaid month, unless contradicted and overcome by other evidence: Provided, That the SSS shall not be barred from determining and collecting the true and correct contributions due the SSS even after full payment pursuant to this paragraph, nor shall the employer be relieved of his liability under section twenty-eight of this Act.

5. For purposes of this section, any employer who is delinquent or has not remitted all the monthly contributions due and payable may within six (6) months from the issuance of this Executive Order remit said contributions to the SSS and submit the corresponding collection lists therefor without incurring the prescribed three percent penalty. In case the employer fails to remit to the SSS the said contributions within the six months grace period, the penalty of three percent shall be imposed from the time the contributions first became due as provided in paragraph (a) of this section.