GSIS waives P7.7B in penalties of members' loans

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has waived P7.7 billion in surcharges and penalties of members’ loans that have been declared in default as of end-2007, the agency announced on Monday.

Under GSIS rules, a loan is considered in default if this is not paid within seven months.

GSIS president and general manager Winston Garcia said that with the condonation, members whose loans have been saddled with huge penalties and surcharges will now be able to renew their loans and get higher loan proceeds.

The condonation was applied automatically on the GSIS members’ loan accounts. Earlier, President Arroyo urged GSIS to implement a program that will ease the financial burden of GSIS members, particularly on their loans.

“President Arroyo wants GSIS members to get a clean slate in their loan account,” Garcia said. The GSIS chief said one way to do this is to waive all the penalties and surcharges incurred by members for defaulting on their loans.

In 2007, the GSIS granted a total of P54.634 billion in loans to its members through the eCard Plus, posting an increase of P21.295 billion or 63.8 percent over the P33.32 billion disbursed in 2006.

Loans offered by GSIS include those granted under the GSIS’ Consolidated Loans or Conso-Loans program. The Conso-Loan is a loan window that consolidates five different loan packages into one — Salary Loan, Restructured Salary Loan, Enhanced Salary Loan, Emergency Loan Assistance, and Summer One-Month Salary Loan — which essentially made these loans easier to manage.

The Conso-Loan can be availed of either through over-the-counter transaction or through the GSIS Wireless Automated Processing System (G-W@PS) kiosks deployed in all GSIS servicing offices and other key government offices nationwide.