STATE pension fund Social Security System plans to collect around P9 billion worth of overdue loan payments from member-borrowers in the next five years under its loan restructuring program.
SSS president and chief executive Emmanuel Dooc said in a statement over the weekend the agency had collected over P5.22 billion of overdue loan payments from member-borrowers who availed of the program in the last 12 months.
“We are very much overwhelmed with the huge volume of applicants, especially during the last few days before the deadline. We hope that they are more persistent in paying their monthly obligations so they could avail of the condonation of penalties as soon as they have paid in full their outstanding loan,” Dooc said.
“We are expecting P8.6 billion in collection until the end of the five-year installment term,” he said.
Dooc expects the regularity of offering loan condonation program for its members will be easier to implement in the future with the approval of the proposed SSS charter amendments.
One provision of the proposed bill aims to rationalize the power of the Social Security Commission, which includes making it an approving authority for loan condonation programs, instead of the President of the Philippines.
Launched on April 28, 2016, the LRP provided relief to delinquent borrowers to settle their unpaid SSS loans through flexible payment terms of up to five years at a low interest rate of 3 percent a year.
“We would like to remind our LRP availers that loan penalties will be completely waived after full payment of total loan principal and interest under the restructured loan. So they are advised to pay their financial obligations on time to prevent an additional penalty of 0.5 percent per month,” Dooc said.
Members who availed of the program have the option to pay their past due loans in full within 30 days with no additional interest, or through installment basis of up to five years with a minimal interest rate of 3 percent per annum.
As part of the program’s terms and conditions, members who availed of the LRP are already excluded from future condonation programs. However, members can apply for another SSS loan six months after they have fully paid their financial obligation under the LRP.
Majority of the LRP applicants were employee-members who contributed P3.23 billion worth of collection. Voluntary members who represented 27 percent of the overall total, meanwhile, paid an initial P1.38 billion.
Over 39,000 self-employed members also availed of the LRP with an equivalent collection of P194.37 million, while more than 46,000 overseas Filipino worker-members benefitted from the program with a total remittance of P412.76 million.
In terms of geographical location, the National Capital Region received the largest volume of LRP applications with 372,469, followed by Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao area with 258,916, 103,329 and 96,609 applications, respectively.