MANILA, Philippines — State-run provident fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has released the pension benefits of government retirees for the month of April, earlier than the usual crediting date which falls on the 8th day of every month.
In a statement, GSIS president and general manager Rolando Macasaet said P5.7 billion in pension benefits were deposited on Wednesday, April 1, and were credited in 511,000 pensioners’ accounts.
“The early release of pension is one of the several pro-active measures we are taking to help our pensioners cope with the COVID-19 crisis,” Macasaet said.
“We know that most of our retirees rely on their pension for their daily upkeep and maintenance medicines. We hope that this will somehow help ease the burden of our senior citizens during the crisis,” he added.
GSIS releases the monthly pension electronically through the pensioners’ eCard or UMID card, which are issued by the Union Bank of the Philippines or Land Bank of the Philippines.
Pensioners may withdraw the cash from the nearest automated teller machine.
Last week, GSIS extended the deadline for the Annual Pensioners Information Revalidation (APIR) to May 15, 2020.
The GSIS said all old-age and survivorship pensioners born in March and April do not need to personally report to GSIS during their birth months. They may instead renew their active status on May 15, 2020.
“We do not want to expose our pensioners to any unnecessary risk, especially in light of reports that elderly people are the ones highly vulnerable to the COVID-19 virus. We want them to stay home for the time being,” Macasaet said.
Under normal circumstances, all old-age and survivorship pensioners are required to personally report to any GSIS office or through the GSIS kiosk during their birth month to continue receiving their pension. Pensioners residing abroad may revalidate their status via Skype.