CEBU CITY, Philippines—The members and pensioners of the state pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) could now avail of the COVID-19 emergency loan program online.
GSIS president and general manager Rolando Ledesma Macasaet made the announcement through a press statement posted on the GSIS website.
“Under the GSIS Emergency Loan program, our members and pensioners may take out a P20,000-loan, which is payable in three years at only 6 percent interest per annum,” Macasaet said.
He noted that this would be the first time for GSIS to offer an emergency loan on a national scale.
“Previously, emergency loan is offered by GSIS to declared calamity areas which are usually confined to a particular province or region. The last time GSIS offered a region-wide emergency loan was in 2013 when typhoon Yolanda struck almost all provinces in the Visayas, Macasaet recalled.
In the aftermath of Typhoon Yolanda, GSIS disbursed a total of ₱5.2 billion in loans to members and pensioners in 2013, he said.
According to GSIS, members of good standing are qualified to avail of the COVID-19 Emergency Loan, except those who are on leave without pay; have incurred arrears in paying the mandatory life insurance contributions; or have unpaid loans for more than six months.
To ensure that borrowers would still have adequate take home pay after availing of the loan, borrowers should have a minimum take-home pay of P5,000, after the monthly premium contributions and loan amortizations has been deducted from their salary.
On the other hand, old-age and disability pensioners can apply for the loan if the resulting net monthly pension after loan availment is at least 25 percent of their basic monthly pension.
This would ensure that a considerable amount would be left for the pensioners’ usual monthly expenses.
Applying online
The loan would be covered by an insurance, so it would be deemed fully paid in case of the borrower’s demise., Macasaet said.
To apply for the loan online, the borrower only needs to email the following to GSIS:
• Duly-accomplished Emergency Loan application form which is downloadable from the GSIS website (https://www.gsis.gov.ph/downloadable-forms);
• Picture or scanned copy of the borrower’s GSIS electronic card (eCard) or Unified Multi-Purpose Identification (UMID) card; and,
• Photo of the borrower holding the filled-out application form.
However, if the ecard or UMID card is not available, the borrower may submit two valid IDs.
The application form and requirements must be sent to the designated email address according to the members’ place of work or pensioners’ residence: gsiscares@gsis.gov.ph (for borrowers in NCR including Quezon City, Rizal and Cavite); gsisnorthluzon@gsis.gov.ph (North Luzon); gsissouthluzon@gsis.gov.ph (South Luzon); gsisvisayas@gsis.gov.ph (Visayas) or gsismindanao@gsis.gov.ph (Mindanao).
Active members and pensioners with UMID cards can also apply through the GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System (GWAPS) kiosks located in all GSIS branch and extension offices; provincial capitols; city halls; selected municipal offices; large government agencies such as the Department of Education; and several Robinsons and SM Malls.
The loan proceeds will be electronically credited to the borrowers’ eCard or UMID card.
For inquiries on the loan program, members and pensioners can visit the GSIS website, www.gsis.gov.ph; GSIS Facebook account, Government Service Insurance System; send email to gsiscares@gsis.gov.ph; or call the GSIS contact center at 8847.4747 if in Metro Manila or 1-800-8-847-4747 (for Globe and TM subscribers) and 1-800-10-847-4747 (for Smart, Sun, and Talk ‘N Text subscribers). /bmjo