GSIS reopens COVID-19 emergency loan facility

MANILA, Philippines — State-run Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has reopened its emergency loan facility for members and pensioners affected by the pandemic.

In a statement, GSIS president and general manager Rolando Macasaet said the COVID-19 Emergency Loan program is once again open for applications from Sept. 28 to Dec. 27.

The reopening of the loan window was made after President Duterte signed Proclamation 1021, extending the state of calamity in the country due to the pandemic.

“To date, there are still 700,000 of our 1.3 million qualified members and pensioners who have yet to file their emergency loan application. Hopefully, the three-month application period will give them ample time to prepare the requirements and submit them to us,” Macasaet said.

“We are mobilizing our resources to help members and pensioners who need financial assistance. Of the P43.01 billion that we have set aside for this loan facility, we have already released P18 billion to nearly 600,000 of them,” he said.

The first COVID-19 emergency loan facility was available starting April until August this year.

Under the emergency loan program, eligible members and pensioners may apply for a loan amounting to P20,000, payable in three years with an interest rate of six percent per annum. This amount may be doubled to P40,000 for borrowers who still have unpaid emergency loans.

To qualify for the loan, members must be in active service and not on leave of absence without pay; have no pending administrative case or criminal charge; and have a net take-home pay of not lower than P5,000 after all required monthly obligations have been deducted.

Members with only three months of premium payments prior to application date, instead of usual six months, may already apply.

Old-age and disability pensioners in the calamity declared-areas may apply for the emergency loan as long as their resulting net monthly pension after the loan availment reaches at least 25 percent of their basic monthly pension.

However, Macasaet said those who have already availed of the COVID-19 emergency loan before are no longer qualified to apply.

He said loan applications would still be subject to the approval of the authorized offficer of the government agencies where members work.

To ensure public health and safety, members and pensioners must file their applications through contactless methods, including the pension fund’s web-based facility Electronic GSIS Member Online (eGSISMO), email, or GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System (GWAPS) kiosks.