State pension fund Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) announced on Friday, July 10, 2020, that it has extended the filing of application for its COVID-19 Emergency Loan program for another month or until August 12, 2020.
“We are extending the July 12 deadline to give more time for our members and old-age and disability pensioners affected by the public health crisis to apply for the loan. We are expecting to reach out to more than 1.3 million members who are qualified for the loan with a projected total amount of Php 43 billion,” GSIS President and General Manager Rolando Ledesma Macasaet said.
Macasaet said that the loan program has been earlier enhanced by increasing the loanable amount from Php20,000 to Php 40,000 for borrowers who have existing loans; and relaxing the terms by allowing borrowers to renew their loan even if they have loan accounts that have not been paid for more than six months and are considered due and demandable. He added that GSIS eased the six-month paid premium rule and reduced it to only three months for members to qualify for emergency loan.
Further, GSIS imposed only three requirements under the enhanced terms of the emergency loan. The borrowers must (1) be in active service and not on leave of absence without pay; (2) have no pending administrative case and/or criminal charge; and, (3) have a net take-home pay of not lower than Php5,000 after all required monthly obligations have been deducted.
Macasaet stressed that the loan application of members will still be subject to the approval of the Authorized Agency Officer of the government agencies where members work.
The emergency loan is payable in three years with an interest of only 6%. The relaxed eligibility requirements and increased loanable amount will be implemented for the duration of the crisis due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
GSIS members and pensioners may submit their emergency loan application through the designated email addresses of the branch offices covering the agencies of active members and place of residence of pensioners. Those who are from NCR may send their application form and documentary requirements to [email protected]. The list of the email addresses of all GSIS branches is published in the GSIS website (www.gsis.gov.ph).
The COVID-19 Emergency Loan application form may be downloaded from https://www.gsis.gov.ph/
Old age and disability pensioners are qualified to apply if their resulting net monthly take home pension after loan availment is at least 25% of their basic monthly pension. They may only apply online by using the designated email addresses of the branch offices covering their places of residence.
Members and pensioners who have inquiries on the loan program may visit the GSIS website, http://www.gsis.gov.ph; GSIS Facebook account, @gsis.ph; email [email protected]; or call the GSIS Contact Center at 8847-4747 (if in Metro Manila), 1-800-8-847-4747 (for Globe and TM subscribers), and 1-800-10-847-4747 (for Smart, Sun, and Talk ‘N Text subscribers).