MANILA, Philippines ? Lawmakers have urged the Government Service and Insurance System to consider going back to manual operations until it has resolved its computer problems to ensure continued service for GSIS members.

Gabriela partylist Representative Luzviminda Ilagan said the GSIS needed to focus on providing assistance to its calamity-stricken members rather than engage in a media war with its computer supplier, SAP, which packaged the IBM system that crashed last summer.

?Let?s go back to manual [operations] if we have to because even the E-card had its flaws. GSIS has to prove that there was indeed a computer glitch because it has already spent millions to repair it. We might as well use the money to serve our members,? said Ilagan.

Marikina City Representative Marcelino Teodoro was disappointed that the GSIS had chosen to focus its resources on lambasting the computer supplier and making excuses for its delayed services in costly ads instead of using its resources to finance the needs of its members, especially in this time of calamity.

?Advertisements dedicated to explaining their inadequacy in providing its members accessibility is a futile exercise and must be redirected to improving its services instead,? said Teodoro. Gil C. Cabacungan Jr.