GSIS extends moratorium on debt payments for members affected by Yolanda

By: Paolo G. Montecillo - 11 years ago

Screengrab from www.gsis.gov.ph

MANILA, Philippines—The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has extended the moratorium on debt payments by members affected by super typhoon Yolanda, giving them and their families more time and resources to rebuild their lives.

About 300,000 of the GSIS’ members are expected to benefit from the debt moratorium extension, which gives them until 2014 before resuming their amortizations.

“We recognize that our members and pensioners continue to suffer the devastating effects of typhoon ‘Yolanda’,” GSIS President and General Manager Robert Vergara said.

He added that the moratorium, which took effect after the typhoon struck last November, would allow the pension fund’s members to use “deferred payments on their GSIS loans to rebuild their homes.”

The program automatically covers all active loan accounts as of October 31, 2013, of pensioners and members living or working in the 126 Yolanda-hit areas that were declared under a state of calamity.

In particular, all active GSIS loans accounts, even those with arrears, are covered by the moratorium. Also included are the emergency loan accounts granted to members and pensioners from November 1 to December 31, 2013.

These loan accounts cover consolidated loan, cash advance, pension loan, pensioner’s restructured loans, policy loan, emergency loan, enhanced salary loan, educational assistance loan, summer one-month salary loan, and housing loan.

In addition, the accounts of pensioners who availed themselves of the installment payment of loans after retirement or Choice of Loan Amortization Schedule Program (CLASP) are covered by the moratorium.

Members and pensioners do not need to apply for the moratorium. GSIS has issued a memorandum circular to its partner agencies on the extension of the loan moratorium period.

The deductions for loan amortization will resume in November 2014. However, members and pensioners who renew any of their loan accounts before the end of the moratorium period will forego the benefit for the particular account that they will renew. The moratorium will still apply to other loan accounts that are not renewed.