Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, December 9) — Christmas came early for more than 300,000 pensioners of the Government Service Insurance System.
The GSIS said it released on Wednesday the Christmas cash gift of around 318,000 old age pensioners, who include former GSIS members who have retired from government service, as well as pensioners with disabilities.
The qualified pensioners were granted a holiday bonus equivalent to either their one-month pension or P10,000, whichever is lower.
“Ang ibig sabihin po nun kung ang kanyang monthly pension ay P6,000, ang tatanggapin po niya ay P6,000. Kung ang kanyang monthly pension ay P50,000, ang kanyang tatanggapin ay P10,000,” Atty. Nora M. Malubay, executive vice president of GSIS’s core business sector, said in a briefing on Wednesday.
[Translation: This means that if pensioner’s monthly pension is P6,000, then they will receive P6,000. If a person’s monthly pension is P50,000, then they will get P10,000.]
Aside from the qualified members’ cash gift, the regular December pension of their members was already credited to their GSIS cards, Malubay added.
Meanwhile, the Department of Labor and Employment aims to release cash aid to coronavirus-affected workers before Christmas, Labor Undersecretary Benjo Benavidez told the same briefing.
Benavidez said that as of Tuesday, more than 93 percent of the P16 billion allotted for its cash assistance programs under the Republic Act 11494, or the Bayanihan to Recover As One Act, a government initiative aimed at cushioning the impact of the coronavirus crisis, had been transferred to DOLE regional and overseas offices. These offices will then distribute one-time financial aid ranging from P5,000 to P10,000 to displaced workers, including overseas Filipino workers.
