Deped announces financial aid to Yolanda-hit civil servants

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Education (DepEd) on Wednesday announced the available financial assistance for teaching and non-teaching personnel affected by supertyphoon Yolanda in Eastern Visayas.

"The loans being made available by government financial institutions is a most welcome relief for DepEd personnel who are still reeling from the effects of the massive devastation," DepEd Secretary  Armin Luistro said in a statement.

He said that among the assistance given to civil servants include the six-month loan moratorium on all outstanding loans given by the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) of its hardest-hit members to enable them to use the deferred payments on their GSIS loans for rebuilding their homes and other urgent needs.

Loans covered under the moratorium include consolidated loans, housing loans, policy loans, and eCash advances. The loan moratorium will be extended from November 2013 to April 2014. The payment for existing loans of members will resume in May next year.

GSIS members residing or working within the declared calamity areas may also apply for the P20, 000 emergency loan in GSIS branch offices and through the GWAPS kiosks until Dec. 31, 2013.

GSIS will waive the requirement to pay 12 monthly amortizations before loan renewal for members with existing emergency loans.

For pensioners living in calamity-declared areas, GSIS is opening a new pension emergency loan window of P20,000 with terms similar to the emergency loan for active members. As with the existing pension loan, loan redemption insurance will be included.

Meanwhile, housing loan agency, Pag-IBIG, is offering Calamity Loan to any of its member who has made at least 24 monthly savings and is an active member with at least five monthly savings for the last six months prior to the date of loan application. Applicants must be resident of areas declared under a state of calamity.

If the member has an existing Housing Loan, Multi-Purpose Loan and/or Calamity Loan, the account must not be in default as of the date of the loan application.

An eligible member may borrow up to a maximum of 80 percent of his Total Accumulated Value subject to the terms and conditions of the program. The current interest rate for the Calamity Loan is 5.95 percent per annum.

The calamity loan is amortized over a period of 24 months with a grace period of 3 months. Loan applicants may visit any Pag-IBIG office near them for further inquiries.

Meanwhile, the Civil Service Commission has announced that affected government employees can avail of emergency leave to give them time to start anew.