GSIS declares 6-month loan payment moratorium in Albay

MANILA, Philippines - The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) declared a six-month moratorium on loan payments for members residing Albay, which was devastated by Typhoon Glenda.

 The loan payment suspension takes effect this month until February 2015. It also covers monthly loan amortizations from pensions.  

“The moratorium will enable our members and pensioners to use the deferred payments on their outstanding GSIS loans for the repairs of their homes and other urgent needs,” GSIS President and General Manager Robert Vergara said in  a statement.

Loans covered under the program include conso-loan, emergency loan, optional policy and regular policy loans, pension loan, pensioners’ emergency loan and pensioners’ restructured loan.

To qualify for the moratorium, the loan accounts should still be within the payment term and should have no arrears for six months or more.

The GSIS already advised government agencies in Albay to stop the loan amortizations from the salaries of employees for loans covered by the moratorium to help in their recovery efforts.

Vergara said all qualified members and pensioners in Albay do not need to apply for the moratorium program. “They have already been electronically identified and tagged in our database.”

Housing loans, however, which are  covered by a separate restructuring program until Dec. 31 this year, are excluded from the moratorium. 

The GSIS earlier opened a P20,000 emergency loan window for members and pensioners in areas declared under a state of calamity.