Mayor Enrico Echiverri INQUIRER FILE PHOTO
The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has condoned half of the interest on unpaid premium contributions of Caloocan City employees and the city has paid a down payment of P15.7 million to the state pension fund as the local government settled its account with the GSIS.
A memorandum of agreement (MOA) was reached between GSIS and the city government after Mayor Enrico Echiverri submitted a reconciliation report directly to GSIS president Robert Vergara, who gave the city government the acknowledgment of a restructured payment.
The MOA ended a dispute between state pension fund and the city which, at one point, resulted in graft charges filed against Echeverri for the city’s alleged failure to remit the city employees’ contributions to the GSIS.
Under a memorandum of agreement, GSIS condoned 50 percent of the interest on unpaid mandated premium contributions of the city-paid workers, “but not to exceed P50 million,” according to a press statement from the mayor’s office. The city paid GSIS P15,786,039.87 as initial down payment for its total obligation.
Inherited debts
According to GSIS, Caloocan City’s total obligations reached P343,814,739.85 in principal and interest for unpaid compulsory premiums since 1997. The bulk of the city’s obligations to the agency was incurred during previous administrations, the statement said.
Based on the reconciled report as of last month, the city government’s total deficiency to GSIS amounted to P120.59 million.
Under the MOA, GSIS agreed to lower the total obligations of the city as may be established after the reconciliation of account in the next three months, and that repayment term shall not exceed three years.
GSIS records had encountered problems when the insurance agency’s database crashed and destroyed the city-paid workers’ records.
Documents showed Echiverri inherited the nonremittance of P18-million GSIS premium contributions from previous administrations, the press statement said.