GSIS holds dialogue with Region III teachers

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) held a dialogue last December 24 with the Region III provincial chapter officers of the Philippine Public School Teachers Association (PPSTA) to discuss issues related to service records (SR) and the Premium-Based Policy.

Stressing that the GSIS is owned by its members and pensioners, PPSTA President and GSIS Board of Trustee Mario Ramirez said that the dialogue helps in clarifying the issues related to GSIS services which are constantly raised by teachers.

“When I joined the GSIS as a Board of Trustee, I became knowledgeable on how GSIS works and thus, has a better understanding of its operations. Through this dialogue, I hope we can resolve the issues and teachers can also help in taking care of the GSIS because it is ours,” Mr. Ramirez said.

For her part, GSIS Executive Vice President for Corporate Support Sector Enriqueta Disuanco said the pension fund is always ready to discuss with its members what the GSIS policies are all about.

“We welcome opportunities to have a dialogue with public school teachers so we can explain to them why there is a need to implement such policies and answer whatever questions they may have,” she said.

Ms. Disuanco further explained that the GSIS and the Department of Education had started reconciling the SRs of teachers in 2005. Last December 8, the regional offices of the GSIS and DepEd, particularly in Region III, started a series of meetings for the validation of the GSIS records.

“This reconciliation of the GSIS and DepEd records is an on-going process,” Ms. Disuanco noted.
She added that the GSIS transacts directly with government agencies for the SRs so there is no need for members to personally submit these records for reconciliation.

“With this system in place, processing is faster because it is done in batches and our members will not be inconvenienced by going to the GSIS,” Ms. Disuanco explained.

Another concern raised by the teacher-leaders in Region III is the Premium-Based Policy. This policy enables the GSIS to provide benefits to its members and pensioners from the contributions coming from both employers and employees. This policy is anchored on the logic of “what you get is what you paid for.” Under this policy, the level of benefits a member is entitled to depend on the premium contribution paid to the GSIS.

Following recommendations from the teacher-leaders in Region III, the GSIS Branch in San Fernando, Pampanga immediately set up a special lane dedicated to address the concerns of the teaching and non-teaching personnel of DepEd effective December 26.

The PPSTA is the biggest professional association of public school teachers with more than 200,000 teacher-members nationwide. In Region III alone, the number of teacher-members of the PPSTA is about 49,000. The PPSTA teacher-leaders who participated in the dialogue with GSIS were from the provinces of Pampanga, Bataan, Zambales, Nueva Ecija, Tarlac.

On the part of the GSIS, the dialogue was facilitated by Trustee Ramirez, EVP Disuanco, Vice President for Public Relations and Communications Office Ella Valencerina and GSIS Region III Manager Eduardo Fernandez.

Christmas Cash Gift for GSIS Pensioners grew 27.6% to P1.18 billion this December 2008

The GSIS will give its pensioners a nice Yuletide present after the GSIS Board of Trustees approved the release of P1.18 billion worth of Christmas cash gift this December, representing a 27.6-percent growth from the P923 million budget allocated for the Christmas cash gift last year.

In fact, the amount has been steadily increasing the past few years. In 2006, the GSIS allotted P623 million for the cash gift and P587 million in 2005.

“We want to give our pensioners a nice holiday present. We know this cash gift will go a long way in making their Christmas a truly merry one,” said GSIS President, General Manager and concurrent Board Vice-Chair Winston F. Garcia.

Mr. Garcia attributed the robust growth in the amount of Christmas cash gift the GSIS has allotted for its pensioners to the consistent increase in the monthly pension the pension fund has been giving its pensioners.

In addition, the GSIS chief noted that with the number of government retirees eligible to receive pension from the GSIS increasing every year, it is deemed necessary that the total allotment for the Christmas cash gift be correspondingly increased as well.

Starting January 2009, the average monthly pension of GSIS pensioners will increase to around P7,800 from the current average of around P7,200.

The GSIS is the only pension system that has managed to consistently increase its pension yearly for the past decade. Since 2000, the GSIS has increased its monthly pension benefit by as much as 84 percent, a feat unmatched in the country.

Furthermore, Mr. Garcia pointed out that the healthy income growth the GSIS has been enjoying so far this year contributed significantly to the increase in the budget allotted for the Christmas cash gift.

For the first 11 months of the year, GSIS has already earned P43 billion in net income and is on pace to hit its P50-billion net income target for the full year.

The GSIS has also issued the guidelines for the cash gift entitlement. For pensioners whose 2007 Christmas cash gift is above P10,000, they shall be granted an amount equivalent to one-month current pension up to a maximum of P12,600. On the other hand, for pensioners whose 2007 Christmas cash gift is P10,000 and below, they shall be granted an amount equivalent to one-month current pension up to a maximum of P10,000.

Meanwhile, for pensioners who resumed their regular monthly pension after December 15, 2007 (after the five-year guaranteed period), they shall be granted an amount equivalent to one-month current pension up to a maximum of P10,000.

Those entitled to receive the Christmas cash gifts are old-age and retirement pensioners including joint-life retirees and disability pensioners under R.A. 8291, P.D. 1146 and R.A. 660 who are receiving their regular monthly pensions and are still qualified to their corresponding pensions and whose status as pensioners is still active as of December 15, 2008.

On the other hand, those not entitled to receive the cash gift are basic survivorship pensioners, dependent pensioners and joint life beneficiaries; retirees who received in advance their guaranteed pensions in the form of lump sums, who shall be resuming their regular monthly pensions after December 15, 2008; and new retirees in 2006 and 2008. They shall only be entitled to this benefit after five years from their retirement date.

Others who are not yet eligible to receive the cash gift this year include members who separated from the service in 2006 and 2008 before reaching the age of 60 and who started their regular monthly pension in 2006, 2007 and 2008. They shall only be entitled to the cash gift if they have been regular pensioners for at least five years; and pensioners under R.A. 7699 (Portability Law) who are receiving their regular pro-rata pension, including those who are receiving pro-rata pension as a result of the Premium-Based Policy.