SSS to employers: Settle delinquent loans

CEBU, Philippines – The Social Security System (SSS) is asking employers to get their statements of accounts and settle their respective delinquent loan payments.

SSS-Cebu City customers' service section head Maria Teresa Gelbolingo explained that their office tried to send formal communications to the various employers under its jurisdiction, but this was not effective, so they are coursing it through the media.

She could not say how many establishments there are whose employees are barred from securing salary loans and other benefits just because their fellow workers failed to settle their long overdue accounts.

SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emilio de Quiros Jr. said there are no changes in their policies on salary loans. He said they are just following guidelines for the member-borrowers to comply in applying for salary loans.

Records showed that the long-overdue payments for loans of the 6.8 million SSS member-borrowers nationwide already reached P27.5 billion. This prompted the SSS officials to initiate some policies to improve the collections of delinquent loans.

Gelbolingo said that with the implementation of their policy of barring new applications for those with pending loan obligation, they expect to collect some P19 billion from past-due loans within three years.

Under the existing policies, loans are charged 10 percent interest annually for a term of two years, with one percent penalty for overdue payments. Unpaid loans also incur continuing interest and penalties, she said.

Employees are required to report existing loans upon transfer to a new company so their new employers can continue remitting their payments to the SSS.

But some of the SSS members did not submit to their employers the copy of their check receipts so their accounting personnel may know how much is their monthly amortization.

It was learned that there are some personnel of the accounting sections that also gave in to the request of their fellow workers to skip or to stop the deductions for whatever reasons.

Since last week, hundreds of SSS members who went to the SSS-Cebu City and in other SSS branch in Lapulapu City to avail of loans went home empty handed because their companies are no longer allowed to secure loans because of delinquent payments.

Many of the employers said they could no longer locate those former employees of their establishments who already resigned and some of them even went abroad.

Gelbolingo said employers tagged as delinquent because of their former employees who already resigned from their companies can request that these names be removed from the list, but they must submit affidavits with a supporting list of those concerned employees.

Gelbolingo apologized to the public for their failure to inform them of the new policy adopted by the SSS before implemnenting it.

Under the policy even those companies that are already prompt in the payment of the contributions of their workers can no longer be granted loans and other benefits. (FREEMAN)