GSIS 7 offers educational loan for members

CEBU, Philippines - With school opening due to begin in less than two weeks time, the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) opens its doors to its 1.3M active members nationwide its Educational Assistance Loan Program.

Under the GSIS Educational Assistance (EA) Program, its members can avail of a one-time loan of P4,000 until December 28, this year.

GSIS 7 Regional Manager Ma. Fatima Alvarez said the program is a promise made by President Aquino during his Labor Day message.

“The mode of application is over the counter and the member can easily get the amount in one to two weeks’ time if all the data in the application form is in order,” said Alvarez.

There are over 67,000 active members in both the provinces of Cebu and Bohol which are the areas of coverage of the GSIS 7.

“At present, there are already 16, 464 applications filed by individuals, or through the liaison officers and 2, 727 were approved while some of those are yet to be evaluated,” bared Alvarez.

Alvarez said the EA loan is payable in five years with an interest of six percent per annum while the borrower is entitled to only pay the monthly interest for the amount of P20 while the loaned amount would be paid in bulk on the 60th month after the availment.

Since this is a special loan, Alvarez added that all applicants are required to fill-up a form and the application shall be made over-the-counter, to be filed either by the member or through the Liaison Officer. “But at present, we will only entertain those applications from the authorized liaison officer to avoid overcrowding in our office,” disclosed Alvarez.

Alvarez said disapproved applications are due to the following reasons: no UMID e-card, inactive status (separated from service), unmatched data (advised to go to the Agency Authorized Officer (AAO) to request data updating), no cell phone number, and no signature indicated in the application form.

The application form is available in the official website of GSIS and is downloadable. (FREEMAN)