DBM to relase nearly P1B for insurance of DepEd workers in ARMM

DBM Sec. Butch Abad INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Budget and Management will release an amount of nearly P1 billion to settle unpaid government insurance premiums for education department’s personnel in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

On Wednesday, the DBM signed a supplemental memorandum of agreement with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) and the Department of Education-ARMM.

The DBM will release P891.4 million to GSIS within 30 days of the MOA signing. Then it will also release P100 million to GSIS, without interest, within one year of the signing.

“For a good while, DepEd personnel in the ARMM were unable to enjoy the full range of GSIS benefits that they were entitled to, including their salary loans and Retirement Gratuity. This was an unacceptable situation, and we have since worked with the GSIS and DepEd-ARMM to settle the GSIS premium arrears of all affected employees,” DBM Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said in a statement.

“Public school teachers actually comprise a remarkable 80 percent of the civil service pool in the ARMM, and many of them have faithfully served their communities for most of their professional lives. Restoring their benefits is only just and fitting,” he added.

The payments will cover all arrears for 29,017 Dep-Ed ARMM personnel and will be sources from savings under 2014 General Appropriations Act.

The supplemental MOA is in line with an agreement on March 2004 in which Dep-ed ARMM agreed to pay its obligations to GSIS within 15 years of signing date.

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