The opportunities that newfound efficiency brings
Advocating for quality education means looking out as well for the welfare of our teachers – ensuring they are properly-rewarded and compensated as much as they are well-equipped to shape the next generation of Filipinos.
As a novice reporter, I had my fair share of reporting about the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS). This time was marked by frequent complaints about teachers’ pensions being drastically delayed, or mismanaged records that often lead to the lack of benefits our educators receive. My advocacy meant making sure that these missteps are covered and given the proper attention.
But now, I can proudly attest to the changes that GSIS managed to achieve. The improvement to its services, the maximization of its resources and of technology to deliver effective results, and the perseverance of the institution to uplift not only our government employees, but also the families and the communities that depend on them.
MPL accelerates the agency’s performance
The GSIS Multi-Purpose Loan (MPL) Flex and MPL Lite programs are two of the Agency’s leading initiatives to aid and provide support to our very own government employees. Launched more than a year ago, it has now distributed a whopping amount of P289B to over 1.2 million of its members nationwide.
Under the leadership of GSIS’s esteemed banker and president Wick Veloso, the institution was able to provide government employees loans up to 14 times their monthly salary capped at P5 million with versatile payment terms extending to 15 years.
“The rapid growth of MPL Flex in less than two years demonstrates both the program’s effectiveness and the significant demand for flexible financial solutions among our members,” said Wick Veloso.
Home ownership is within reach
Apart from financial loans, the Agency is now laying the foundation, both literally and figuratively, opening more doors. With the GSIS’ Pabahay sa Bagong Bayaning Manggagawa (PBBM) initiative, the agency is making more homeowners out of government workers.
Aiding the administration’s 4H housing program, the GSIS provided more than 5,000 members and non-members with access to Lease with Option to Buy (LWOB) and Housing Accounts Restructuring and Condonation Program (HARCP), both of which are evidence of GSIS’s unending support to our society’s economic growth.
“Through our housing programs, we ensure our members have access to this life-changing opportunity while helping safeguard their future,” Veloso said.
The LWOB program was able to work with 3,360 households to acquire their dream homes, with the total soaring at P2.84 billion as of December 2024 only, making its members’ expenses sustainable and available for home ownership.
Simultaneously, the HARCP maneuvered the Agency brilliantly as it supported 1,618 borrowers by taking in P2.6 billion in penalties as well as allowing P175 million in interest discounts to reach borrowers, keeping our government employees away from debt.
Optimal growth for GSIS
Along with the MPLs and housing programs, the current GSIS’s Board of Trustees’ exceptional undertaking of its operations irrevocably improved the Agency’s overall efficiency.
Take, for example, the agency’s stellar performance in 2024. The pension fund’s total assets grew to P1.8 trillion, an 8% increase, as its net income jumped to 58%, a P120 billion growth. All the while, overall revenues marked new heights with a 27% rise reaching P258 billion – almost a 50-million increase from the previous year.
GSIS momentum doesn’t end there either, as the pension fund’s non-life insurance business generated P8 billion in gross premiums, marking an unprecedented 60% increase from the previous year.
In addition, as of December 2024, the Agency received P428 million, P272 million, and P162 million from real estate lease, loans, and completed transactions respectively. With all these numbers coming in a flurry, the institution’s progress is paving ways for its members’ very own success stories.
Efficiency felt from families to communities
One of GSIS’s MPL Flex individual borrowers, Roland Daleon Satin, a Master Teacher at Mayo Crossing Elementary School in Lucena used his loan to fund a small enterprise – an internet café. What was first established to make ends easier met eventually became a shop that helped the local community.
“I saw an opportunity to not only create additional income for my family but also support our community’s needs,” Satin said.
Although mainly utilized by remote workers from the vicinity, Roland’s computer shop also adjusted its rates when they eventually catered to students during blended learning helping the kids cope with online modules.
“By offering affordable computer access and printing services to students, we are helping them pursue their education while building a sustainable business,” Satin added.
Innovating for the public
Mabel Perez, a beneficiary of the LWOB program and currently employed by the University of the Philippines College of Law, expressed her satisfaction with the affordable prices that the program has given her access to. According to Perez, “it’s the easiest way to own a house!”
And how does the Agency convey its success to its members? Through convenience, of course. With the enhancements applied to GSIS’s digital platforms, members can now apply their loans online! The GSIS Touch mobile app allows its users to apply for a loan, track their ongoing applications, and manage their accounts from the tip of their fingers anytime and anywhere.
Times are indeed changing, and GSIS appears to be at the helm of providing continuous support to our fellow Filipinos, and at the forefront of building communities, providing them with shelter and assistance at their hour of need.
This government institution not only gives us access to affordable housing programs and financial assistance with versatile payment schemes, but it is also giving us a glance of the future, where government agencies are obliging, compassionate, and most of all, accessible.
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