The Social Security System on Friday announced that it has already started refunding one to two months of loan payments collected from its pension loan borrowers under the pension loan program (PLP) in 2020 effective Jan. 20.
President and chief executive officer Aurora Ignacio said the pension fund would refund P105 million worth of pension loan payments to 25,231 pension loan borrowers.
“We understand the predicament faced by our PLP borrowers which is why they opted to file their loans to SSS to further finance their medical and immediate financial concerns brought about by the current pandemic,” she said.
PLP offers financial assistance to retiree pensioners for their short-term needs and the refund of their pension loan payments would greatly help them cope with the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, she added.
The program was launched in September 2018 to help retiree pensioners with their short-term financial needs by offering a loan at a low-interest rate of 10 percent per annum with a maximum loanable amount of P200,000 payable in six,12, and 24 months.
The pension loan payment refund is based on Circular No. 2022-002 in compliance with the provisions of Republic Act No. 11494 or the Bayanihan to Recover as One Act.
Under the law, banks, quasi-banks, financing companies, lending companies, and other financing institutions, both public and private, were directed to give a 30-day grace period for borrowers’ loan payments without incurring any interest on interest, penalties, fees, and other charges.
The provision covered loan payments with dues that fall within Sept. 15 to Dec. 31, 2020. Ignacio said eligible SSS retiree pensioners are those who are currently amortizing as of the implementation date and those who started their monthly amortization in October 2020.
They shall receive loan payment refunds for their loan payments in October and November 2020. For pensioners who started their monthly amortization in November 2020, they would get a refund for their loan payments in November and December 2020, while those who only started paying their loan amortizations in December 2020 would only get a one-month refund for December 2020.
“We advise our pensioners that they no longer have to visit SSS to apply for the said refund. Like the refund of the April and May 2020 loan payments last December 9 and 10, 2021 under Bayanihan 1, these pension loan payment refunds will automatically be credited to qualified pensioners through their respective SSS UMID-ATM card or Union Bank QuickCard savings accounts where they already received the proceeds,” Ignacio cited.
