GSIS members to have benefits, perks restored

MANILA, Philippines—Members of the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) whose premium payments are not up to date would no longer have their access to benefits and privileges suspended, especially since the fault was not theirs but the agencies they work for.

Robert G. Vergara, GSIS president and general manager, said in a statement the new policy will take effect beginning July.

“It’s wrong that these employees lose their access to GSIS loan windows and dividends when their social insurance contributions are mandatorily deducted from their salaries,” Vergara said.

The GSIS considers as delinquent those government agencies that fail to remit at least 90 percent of the mandatory premium contributions for each month or, for those working under an agreement with the pension fund to settle their arrears, fail to comply with the terms of the deal.

Vergara said the GSIS board in April approved new measures that address the government agencies’ failure to remit their employees’ contributions in other ways.

Also, the new policy provides remedial guidelines for agencies that have been suspended to enable their employees to regain GSIS privileges.

Three options

The GSIS chief said that suspended agencies may choose any of three options to restore their regular status, the quickest being the full payment of their premium delinquencies.

Another option is to restructure their arrears and commit to settling these by entering into a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with the GSIS.

Finally, under the new policy, the suspension may be lifted if an agency pays at least 90 percent of any three consecutive months’ premium obligations and commits to enter into a MOA with GSIS.

GSIS data showed that as of February, there were 252 government agencies that were about to be suspended because of unremitted contributions, about half of which were entities linked to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, while many were local government units.

Mainly DepEd employees

On the other hand, at least 200 agencies have concluded agreements with the pension fund. This has resulted in the restoration of loan privileges and other benefits to some 800,000 state workers, mostly those with the Department of Education.

Further, Vergara said that until the suspended agencies meet their obligations, either in full or as described in the MOA with the GSIS, the retirement benefits of employees will be based on periods with paid premiums.

“However, the GSIS will still consider the total length of service in determining the eligibility of members to retirement, or a minimum of 15 years,” he said.

Vergara said the GSIS will coordinate with heads of employee unions and personnel offices to inform them of the failure of their agencies to remit the required payments.

“We enlist our members’ cooperation to ensure that the mandatory premium obligations and other amounts due the pension fund are remitted to the (GSIS) to guarantee that they receive the correct level of benefits,” he said.