DBM to settle P1-B unpaid premiums of DepEd employees

MANILA, Philippines - The Department of Budget and Management will finally settle almost P1 billion in unpaid premiums of employees of the Department of Education-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao following successful negotiations between the DBM, DepEd  and the  Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

The agreement  signed yesterday will restore the benefits of more than 29,000 teaching and non-teaching personnel in ARMM. Among these benefits include housing,  salary and retirement.

The DBM will pay the state pension fund about P900 million in cash, 30 days after the signing of the supplemental memorandum of agreement (MOA), with the remaining P100 million to be paid over a period of one year without interest.

The payment will be sourced from savings under 2014 General Appropriations Act (GAA).

The supplemental agreement is in line with a previous agreement inked between the three agencies in March 2004, where the DepEd-ARMM agreed to pay its obligations to GSIS within fifteen years of the signing date.

“For a good while, DepEd personnel in the ARMM were unable to enjoy the full range of GSIS benefits that they were entitled to, including their salary loans and Retirement Gratuity. This was an unacceptable situation, and we have since worked with the GSIS and DepEd-ARMM to settle the GSIS premium arrears of all affected employees,” DBM Secretary Florencio “Butch” Abad said.

Abad said the Bangsamoro peace pact, which was signed on March 27 to end decades-long armed conflict, this year signals a period of greater socio-economic development in the ARMM.