The Social Security System (SSS) announced revised guidelines for its Calamity Loan Program (CLP) to provide faster and more affordable financial assistance to members in areas hit by natural disasters, including Tropical Cyclone “Crising.”
SSS president and chief executive Robert Joseph de Claro said the updated guidelines align with President Ferdinand Marcos Jr.’s May 1, 2025, announcement regarding reduced interest rates for both salary and calamity loans.
De Claro said the Social Security Commission, led by chairperson and Finance Secretary Ralph Recto, approved a proposal to lower interest rates on calamity loans from 10 percent to 7 percent annually.
He said the decision comes after a similar reduction last month, which saw salary loan interest rates drop from 10 percent to 8 percent. These reduced rates are available to members with good credit histories, specifically those who haven’t benefited from penalty condonation in the last five years.
The revised guidelines also permit calamity loan renewal after six months, provided the existing CLP is not past due. De Claro highlighted a significant improvement in the activation process for the CLP, which will now take only seven working days from the date of a calamity event, a considerable reduction from the previous one-month timeframe.
SSS branch operations sector and international operations group units will play a more active role by endorsing state of calamity declarations to the SSS member loans department within two calendar days of issuance.
